Boiling Over
by mende5525
Summary: When Slade's crime and identity are found out, the laws have been changed...Raven is placed in the awkward position of probation officer, and when spending extra alone time with him becomes complicated and intense... things start to boil over.
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

It had been four years since the demise of Trigon, four years since the return of Terra, four years since the return of Slade, and as of a week ago it had also been the end of Slade.

But that's for later…

What had really changed was the new structuring of the criminal system. The Justice League had come down even harder with its code of ethics and morals in the dealing of criminals.

There had been talk, lots of talk…amongst the public, the government and other heroes. Ever since the Justice League had come into contact with the possible future; one where hero's killed, lobotomized and turned the government into a dictatorship; there were new laws coming into play.

For one, many lawyers and psychiatrists had been arguing that the law was not giving accused criminals fair trails or punishments anymore. Many complaints aimed toward Arkham Asylum for not actually treating its inmates, in fact some were arguing that the asylum had gone corrupt and was actually making its patients worse.

Humanitarians were complaining that the more physically powerful heroes were using unnecessary force on some of their weaker foes. Many people had turned to say that regular human criminals should be handled by police (those of equal caliber) and that the public was relying too much on superheroes.

The police, firemen, and working class complained more than the rest. Police were being put out of work by the ever expanding League, they felt demoralized and unneeded, most civilians waited for heroes rather than call 911.

Firemen were being overworked because of the violent battles that sent buildings crumbling to the ground in fiery heaps. Between the exploding cars, the powers of heat, super strength and high tech explosives, by the time the majority of the battle was over everything was practically ash and more dangerous to work around.

The working class were losing what they needed most…money. Between the rebuilding, the increase of insurances, increase of taxes, increase of security, and overpopulated prisons, the common working person was feeling the effects of good vs. evil the most.

The government was feeling it too. Their citizens were not at ease with the way the criminal system was being practiced and the amount of freedom and trust it allowed its superheroes.

Things had to come to a breaking point… the breaking point was Raven.

When people had finally realized what had happened because of the lone Titan everyone had gone in an uproar. They had technically been dead and some might argue that they had been saved by the very Titan who had brought on the end of the world, but that wasn't the point.

Hackers had infiltrated the systems private files of the Watchtower and found high-tech footage of the incident. Thanks to the technologies of the Thanagarian people, the demonic magic of Trigon that had froze the universe in stone and time had not affected the advanced high-tech footage meant to repel all forms of magic.

When the information had been leaked everyone had become distrusting of the League, the Titans and all other affiliated groups.

What had truly made it all so terrifying was the fact that no one had known about it, least of all the government. There had been no contingency plan, no way to prepare, although it was argued that the Titans had prepared and had informed the League for help, although that wasn't all together true. Raven had insisted they not tell the League, and Robin had been so adamant in his team's abilities to do the impossible that he hadn't seen the need to get the League involved.

Of course the League had been just as disturbed by the information once everything had returned to normal, as though nothing had ever happened. But something real, **real** serious had happened, the world had been destroyed, and the Titans had known about it too little too late.

Raven had kept a secret. Not a regular human secret like: I cheated on my math test, I watch random kitten and puppy videos, or I actually love Taylor Swift.

No…Raven held a secret that had to do with the livelihood and well-being of the entire earth; something which could've been detrimental into her acceptance as a superhero.

It hadn't come as a surprise that many argued that Raven had no business being amongst the Titans.

It also led into discussions as what other superheroes might be hiding, not just from the public, but from their teammates as well.

Superman had come forward finally. It was not in the best interest of the public to inform them on every ability, history and likelihood of danger because it could cause unnecessary fear and panic in its civilians. The trust and freedom the government allowed them to work in was the key foundation in what allowed them to do their jobs to the best of their ability. And as hard as the negatives were in the cases of money and criminal activity, people also had to remember the positives. The League and the Titans saved lives, they helped rebuild and keep structure, and if they weren't as hard as they were on criminals that there would be even more casualties and havoc imaginable.

The public, the government, and even a few heroes… did not agree.


	2. Laws That Bind and Break

**Chapter 1: Laws that Bind and Break**

_One week before Slade's capture…_

"I'll see you guys later," Beastboy called running out of the tower.

Raven barely glanced up from her book while Cyborg called out a goodbye, Starfire waved and Robin mumbled something she didn't catch.

Therapy was a ridiculous.

Why Beastboy enjoyed it so much, she couldn't fathom, but ever since the return of Terra and her lack of any memory of him or the Titans, Beastboy had been going to see their personal therapist once a week since the option had become available to them from the government.

They had a lot of options robbed of them and their work.

Everyone had a personal file available to the public. People knew her height, her weight, the name of her home world, the extent of her abilities, her weaknesses, and where she resided.

Ever since the popularity of social media took off, no single human had any sense of privacy, not truly. With the rise of super-genius hackers breaking through the barriers of Watchtower files, it seemed pointless to try.

Superheroes had strongly fought for their security and privacy, but Raven had ruined that when hackers revealed her secret destiny and caused an outcry. The government ruled that the Justice League had to make certain files available to the public, others to the CIA, they could keep their secret identities secret if they chose to, however if any abilities or skills were kept hidden that could possibly put others at risk there would be consequences.

Suspensions or outlawing their services were one of many complicated outcomes they had weighing on all of them if they didn't comply.

A lot had been on Raven's shoulders ever since the new laws had been put into place. For one she felt responsible, even though her teammates and countless members of the Justice League had told her it wasn't her fault; even though she could tell not all of them really felt that way.

She knew Robin had been berated by Batman many times over, on the rare occasions they did see the caped crusader she felt immense suspicion radiating off him and she deserved it.

She deserved all the resentment good and honest heroes felt towards her, it wasn't fair how they were being treated.

Criminals seemed to be getting more and more breaks, better deals and better treatment. There were now more psychiatric doctors going to meet with them personally, although Robin had stated that it was another Harley Quinn situation waiting to happen.

And although it wasn't against the law for buildings and cars to be crushed during battles, there were strong recommendations to cause as little damage to surrounding property. If it seemed like these cautions were being ignored, then the League or Titans would now pay for repairs on top of already rebuilding.

There were also specialty boot camps that put many criminals to work in a community service type of deal. In some ways it had success. Small time criminals were given something to do and it gave them a sense of purpose and a sense of being needed. They were being exercised and supervised and many cities- including Gotham-were cleaning up nicely.

What had become another new trend (to many heroes great displeasure) was probation. Regular enemies and villains required visits and monitoring of their actions frequently. Almost every hero hated the task of probation and correctional officers, it was tedious and time-consuming when they knew that their most common enemies were going to return to jail sooner or later. The only difference this made was that the prisons weren't so overpopulated all the time.

Criminals weren't the only ones who were being more monitored now, the Watchtower and Titans Tower would receive visits from authorized government officials once a month to inspect any possible dangers, any new updates, or any new activity. This was to ensure the public that the places of hero business were being used and conducted in the safest ways.

Raven already knew that not everyone was following the rules; Batman still had the Batcave off limits, the Fortress of Solitude was impossible to get to, and there were no outsiders permitted to the Themyscira.

No it was not perfect, not even ideal for many heroes, but it had put the citizens more at ease. So all in all it wasn't so bad. Superman had stated many times that it was actually the start of a better partnership between all; everyone was more aware and willing to be better. Even though it seemed as though they were being punished, the reality was that they were being asked to become more open and trusting. As the law abiding optimist, Superman claimed it was actually uniting everyone.

_Whatever, _thought Raven as she grimaced over the fact that some stranger was allowed into her room once a month to check for anything suspicious. At least they weren't allowed to take pictures; at least they didn't have to give everything to the public. Hell…they served the public, why should they get to have so much more than they already gave them?

She looked out the window towards the city and felt a pang of resentment. She had to get over it, it had already been four years, she should be thankful she was still a member of the Titans and even though she rarely used any of it, they had been given some benefits.

For one, they had a bigger budget and more resources available to them. Cyborg had appreciated the number of metals and parts for weapon and technology updates given to them at no price. Robin had been given more leadership roles for their city's police force, teaching them some survival and weapon skills when faced with more dangerous criminals.

Some of the most brilliant and intelligent of heroes had been commended greatly on their help for research, such as disease and poverty. In truth a lot of the world was no longer in dire straits now that more and more of the Justice League offered their services towards charity instead of crime.

Starfire and Beastboy had taken advantage of the many doctors made available. There were life coaches, therapists, and advisors. Some were for emotional conflicts, some were for how to live an ordinary life amongst humans, and some were for lessons on coping and life after their eventual retirement.

Maybe they couldn't be heroes forever, but that was hardly slowing them down. They had however taken up lives outside of the Titans since becoming adults, they had eliminated the "Teen" part a long time ago.

They had also eliminated many of their enemies, which had been one great achievement throughout the many changes.

This left them time to do other things. Raven had to smile at slow-pace of crime, sometimes they had to catch their breath and be allowed to live.

Speaking of living…Raven looked at the clock hanging in the kitchen and realized she was going to be late for class. "I better get going also," she murmured to no one in particular, just a force of habit to let each other know when they were leaving.

She got the same responses as Beastboy as she phased out of the tower.

Some days Raven considered disguising herself to live a bit more normally, but there wasn't a true need. The Titans were her only friends and family and probably always would be. The thought of someone getting hurt by one of her enemies wasn't something she had to worry about because her loved-ones could handle it.

Anyone willing to risk becoming close to her had to have some balls, Raven just couldn't see it happening. A regular person wanting to be someone important in her life… she didn't think about it, it wasn't plausible.

After a long and deliberate wait, Raven had finally entered college as an English major. The first year had been difficult, students gawked and stared at her. The emotions that flooded her empathy were so intense she nearly quit. But things soon stabilized and within her second year everyone seemed to accept the dark Titan as just another student and Raven had never felt more at ease with herself.

She was able to talk to people who had the same interests as her, she was able to read and write and share her thoughts on some of her favorite literature. She admired the professors and was surprised by the students.

While she had not gotten particularly close to anyone, she did have a few acquaintances and was glad to expose herself a little more to the world, maybe Superman hadn't been so far off, things weren't so bad.

She emerged out of thin air onto the college grounds always happy when no one turned their head in surprise from her sudden appearance. Raven adjusted her leather jacket uncomfortably as she walked closer to the main entrance of Jump City's College of the Arts.

Regular clothing was still something she was getting used to. She tried to avoid a stereotypical Goth look since her features were already so dark and people already had an impression of her being a witch. She often tried for a more casual look, solid colors, straight lines and comfort. Heels and make-up were never going to touch her.

Raven pulled her jacket on tighter as one of the books wedged between her ribs and elbow went tumbling on the pavement.

"Fuck," she whispered bending down to grab it.

Fate had been on her side that morning as an explosion knocked her fully on the ground and sent debris flying over her head. Had she been standing she would've been hit in the head and landed on her face.

The explosion left a huge hole in the front of the schools' lobby area, people were running out in a panic. No one stopped to help her or check if she was ok, they were too busy screaming in hysterics.

Raven blinked rapidly trying to clear her head. It didn't take long for her to recover from the impact being use to battle, she threw off her leather jacket which was now scorched and stood in a fighting stance as the smoke started to clear, she would finally be able to see the enemy.

Her voice barely came above a whisper as the figure appeared. "Slade..."

The armor, the mask, the intimidation… Slade full in the flesh for the first time in years. "Well, if it isn't my favorite Titan," his voice purred as he loomed over her.

Anger overtook her, and before she could even think, Raven engulfed a student's car from the parking lot and flung it at Slade. He dodged it with effortless ease and stood centimeters from her as the car exploded behind him. The Titans were going to have to pay for that out of their budget.

Slade was on her before she could blink and snatched her wrist firmly in his large hand and merely held her. She gritted her teeth and glared at him in his lone eye, her own eyes going white from the build-up of energy radiating though her body.

"That was hardly necessary," he seethed giving her wrist a sharp twist. Raven snapped her eyes shut as she felt her wrist go into a strain, she knew if he wanted to break it he easily could. Her free arm slung forward towards his face, he caught it before it reached him.

As he continued to tighten his grip on her he studied her at length. Naturally he'd been watching the Titans for years, but observing someone from afar was different from actually standing in their presence.

She was taller, still small compared to him, but in full adult form she seemed more mature and less child-like as she had before. Her attire was also interesting to him, she was trying to blend and become part of the world.

Form fitting jeans and a simple black tee-shirt and knee high boots. Regular clothes suited her well, yet he couldn't help but notice how her attitude and mind-set seemed predictably the same. It would hardly be fun fighting her.

As he studied her, Raven became more and more fed up with him manhandling her Raven did something he never would expect of the young Titan, she snapped her head forward with impressive might into his face. His head rocked back from the force, it hardly hurt since his metal mask was protecting his face, but it took a lot to cause his neck to snap back and make his eyesight blurry.

He knew she was going to have one hell of a bump on her head as she lifted her leg and kneed him in the stomach. Had she used a little more force he might have staggered, instead he rolled his fingers together in a fist and nailed her in the cheek, she went down instantly.

He leaped forward preparing to stomp his foot down into her side but she phased through the ground instantly. As his foot connected with concrete he could hear sirens approaching. He smirked under his mask, innocent bystanders would cause Raven to become more focused on their safety instead of his capture. Perfect.

He sensed her before she was able to fully target him. He leaped into the air as a pillar went crumbling into the street, police cars approaching slowed down as ruble went scattering everywhere. Slade turned to the floating Titan above the schools' main building. Raven looked like she ready to rip the whole building from the ground and crush Slade with it.

However, the law prevented her from doing that. Besides, Slade had other plans for her and the Titans. "Careful Raven, you wouldn't want to do anything you might regret."

Her eyed glowed in a fiery white as she only continued to try and pummel him with more little pieces of the school. He leaped out of her aim as though it were nothing. Both of them could hear police officers yelling "Stop" in the background, at who directly wasn't clear. All Raven could focus on was nailing the bastard with a large piece of rock, but her aim was pitiful compared to his reflexes.

She was growing tired of this chase and decided to come at him on her own.

Her fighting skills weren't much, certainly not compared to Robin, but her anger was far greater than anyone else's and that's the only thing that gave her an edge as her and Slade traded blows, him nailing more than her.

He had known of her slowly improving on her fighting skills. He was surprised when she had begun to train herself more physically when most of her abilities were more mental and emotional. It was during the Brotherhood of Evil when Slade had discovered Raven's more maternal side.

Having to be responsible for Timmy, Teether and Melvin had made Raven realize that she needed to rely on her hand to hand combat just as much as her mental prowess, especially if she ever had to come into contact with a giant gorilla again.

But Slade was not a clumsy animal, he was coordinated and tactful and landed a hard blow to Raven's chest which sent her flying backward and into the ground. Raven coughed up some blood as she kicked herself back up standing just in time to shield herself from another blow.

Slade regarded her black energy coolly; she was going on the defensive, back into her old fighting habits which had always been more defensive than offensive. He wanted to see more of her fighting and get more of her frustration out, it was working to his advantage better than her playing it safe.

He decided to play a little dirty to get that stress out of Raven, instead of punching at her like he had been, he made a grab for her hair and tossed her like a toy across the street and into a police car, Raven's body slammed into the windshield causing it to shatter and collapse in.

Raven's mouth fell open as she shifted against the broken glass, she couldn't believe Slade had just grabbed her by the hair and tossed her!

He landed on the hood in front of her and her first instinct was to kick, she landed the blow to his knee which she regretted instantly when he fell on top of her.

She tried pushing him off only to find his hands wrapped around her neck. She clawed at his grip which only tightened further, she heard a sickening crunching sound echoing from her neck and felt her lungs start to burn.

As Slade continue to crush her throat and enjoy the look of panic in her eyes she did yet another thing that surprised him. She was reaching for his face- no not his face, his mask. She was trying to get a grip on it and possibly rip it off.

How odd that her final thoughts were concentrated on knowing what his face looked like. He added more pressure.

Her hand fell shakily as her eyes started to roll in the back of her head, he was killing her. He was about to put an end to the whole ordeal when a massive boulder slammed into his side, nearly breaking his ribs, but he was quick to regaining himself already knowing it wasn't Raven who sent the boulder flying at him.

Raven coughed and hacked up more blood and fluttered her eyes which had already gone hazy. She felt Slade near her, but his attention was no longer focused on her, he was focused on someone else.

She looked over the side of the car and recognized a blonde figure standing a few feet away from them.

She looked back at them as though she were just as surprised. The awkwardness floated between all three of them for the longest time, the police officers and screaming students hardly existed as they all stared at each other. Slade was the first to speak. "Hello Terra…seems like you do remember after all."


	3. The Forgiven and Forgotten

A/N: Had to delete the story once. Trying to fix something! But it's still the same and sorry to the one good review I got, I did read it and appreciated it. Any way here we go!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: The Forgiven and Forgotten<strong>

By the time the rest of the Titans had showed up Slade had already disappeared, as well as Terra. Police were screaming at Raven for damaging the school, a student car, and one of their police squad cars, despite the fact that it was technically Slade who had thrown her into the windshield.

There was the usual police procedure which always took longer than necessary of questions and reports. Raven was still coughing up blood by the time they got back to the tower, the least the police could've done was let her heal herself, she was glad to finally have that chance.

"But did she say anything, did she leave any clue as to where she went?" The green changeling had been bombarding Raven with questions ever since she had told them all about Terra.

"God damn it Garfield! I already told you everything" she only ever used his name when she got really pissed off at him. Her throat hurt even more as she yelled at him, she wasn't sure how bad her wounds were but she knew it was going to take a few hours. She was betting she had a cracked sternum and badly crushed throat, the police had allowed Cyborg to remove glass from her back during the questioning, but she hadn't seen how badly it was slashed up.

Raven slowly made her way to the medical bay with the rest of her teammates annoyingly behind her.

"Did either of them say anything to you Raven?" Robin asked persistently over and over.

The thought of Slade calling her his favorite Titan still swam around in her confused and rattled brain.

"Nothing from Terra," Raven answered thankful that they had finally reached the medical bay. "And the same old monologue from Slade, destroy the Titans," she added with heavy resentment.

"Why would Terra suddenly choose, or remember, to use her powers; and why would Slade attack Raven out in public when she was by herself?" Robin pondered through his detective brain.

"He wasn't trying to attack me," Raven grunted sitting on the rest bed. "He was trying to kill me."

Starfire inhaled sharply at the thought, "But why? Why now after all this time?"

"Well it's not like he's been totally gone after all these years," Cyborg said trying to help Raven lay down comfortably and her swatting him away. He continued to help her anyway and said, "There have still been his look-a-like robots, and the false threats that have led us on countless dead ends."

It was true, every now and then they defeated a robot designed to look and speak like him, there have been video hacks into their main computer, claiming that there were bombs or explosives hidden all over the city; all a bunch of fake cowardly traps that Slade seemed to pull for mere entertainment.

Physically though Slade had been more involved with the Justice League, he seemed to have grown tired of the Titans and needed more of a challenge. Batman had informed them of his involvement with crime groups in Gotham, espionage, and kill contracts.

Slade liked to remind the Titans that he still had it in for them, but he hadn't acted on his intentions towards them for years.

"This time he's actually back," Robin said scrunching his face in concentration. "He's seeking to kill us this time, so we need to be careful."

"But what about Terra!" Beastboy whined again. "Am I the only one who cares about what's going on with her? What if Slade tries to go after her again?"

Raven finally rested her head back and closed her eyes in a painful grunt. "Then let's just hope she doesn't team up with him again and join in the next attack."

"That's not funny Raven!" snapped Beastboy angrily.

"I didn't say it to be funny," she remarked seriously. "Obviously she lied about not remembering anything, how do you know she won't turn on us again now that she's using her powers."

Beastboy was going to start arguing with her, when Robin put a hand on his shoulder to stop the conflict. "Alright everyone that's enough," he demanded sternly. "We all have a lot of questions and a lot of work to follow up on, but for now I need you to heal yourself Raven. We all need to think clearly and calmly about this and be ready for whatever comes next."

Everyone nodded in unison to their leader and started to leave the room to let Raven go into her meditative trance for healing. Before Robin left he said one last thing to her. "And I don't want you going anywhere by yourself Raven."

She lifted her head to look him in the eye to see if he was serious, he was.

Robin was quick to explain himself before she protested. "For whatever reason Slade targeted you first, he made sure you were on your own and in public, completely caught off guard. It's better if we're all together until we can take him down."

Raven sighed and rested her head back on the pillow, not having the energy to argue with him. That meant she would have to cancel her classes and make up a mountain of homework and tests. Nothing irritated her more than the thought of falling back in school, she took pride in being a good student and Slade had just ruined that.

But that's what Slade excelled in…ruining people.

Robin left without another word, Raven cursed under her breath and kicked the railing of the bed hard.

_Let that anger rise._

Rage was having fun in her head. Her emotions were running more rampant than they had in a while. She needed to be mindful of her reactions and responses for the next few days.

Raven was about to go into her recovery trance when she noticed a slight bulge in her pocket. Most of Raven's street clothes had been torn and damaged in the fight, she had cleaned up as much as possible, but at what point did something get lodged in her pant pocket?

Raven reached for the object hidden in her pocket and nearly dismissed it for a random rock until she realized that there were words engraved in the stone.

**GRAVE**

**COME ALONE**

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><p>She had to be careful. Right now the Titans assumed she was asleep in her room when really she was several hundred feet underground. They would go into a panic if they figured out she was missing, and Robin would be beyond angry with her. Not that it mattered right now, what mattered was meeting Terra.<p>

The message had been short and curt with little clues, but enough for Raven to know what it meant. She didn't know when, but somehow Terra had managed to sneak a message to Raven.

The grave was Terra's resting spot when she had still been stone, and the reasons why she had to come alone were still a mystery to Raven.

She was guessing a large part of it was not wanting to be confronted by all the Titans, or worst case scenario she really was working for Slade again and it was an ambush. But despite the cruel jab she had taken at Terra's loyalty earlier, she didn't truly believe Terra would do something like that again.

Raven chose to go in her regular uniform or rather what she considered to be her real clothes, her leotard, cloak and hood. When it came to someone as unpredictable as Terra is was best to come dressed for a fight.

She had to maneuver her way carefully around the passages, there were vast and maze like when Terra had first created them, some were collapsed in from the volcano and others were miles long with dead ends at every corner. Admittedly Raven had not come down here much to visit Terra's stone body, so she could hardly remember which way to go without getting lost or sidetracked.

She finally reached the location in over an hour and saw the familiar blonde sitting in her old resting spot.

"Glad you finally made it," Terra said tossing a rock in the air with her powers.

Raven made a huffing sound and regarded her coldly, hardly taking a step closer. Terra didn't seem to care either way as she continued to make little pebbles dance around in the air. "Figured you'd have a little trouble finding your way back down here, but I knew you'd come either way. You're stubborn that way I guess."

"And you're deceptive in the way you go about meeting people, glad to see that hasn't changed," Raven countered back suspiciously.

Terra rolled her eyes at her and stood with her hand on her hips. "Look at me, does it really look like I'm about to deceive you." Terra was dressed in a regular white shirt and black pants with a pair of hiking boots. "I did save your life earlier didn't I? How about a little gratitude?"

"Why did you save my life by the way?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow.

Terra sneered, offended at her. "Gee, I guess I just didn't feel like letting Slade kill you or something. Believe it or not I'm not the same person I use to be."

"Well you can say that again," Raven sneered back. "Why have you been trying to hide who you use to be? The city knows you sacrificed your life in the end, Beastboy still thinks you're a good person and we've all forgiven you."

"Really? You've **all** forgiven me for what I did, and the city would be so thrilled to know I was back?" Terra asked condescendingly before shaking her head sadly. "No you guys might have forgiven me, but you all look at me differently, Beastboy only wants to believe I was good because he was in love with me and as for the rest of the world…" She paused to look long and hard at Raven who continued to stand there mutely.

"How did the world look at you when it discovered your dark side?"Terra didn't ask for an answer, she already knew. She just wanted Raven to understand why it was she decided not to become a superhero again, why she didn't try reuniting with the Titans.

Raven tried to say something but soon felt defeated empathizing with Terra's situation. "It takes a while, but after some time it goes back to normal."

Again Terra only shook her head. "You changed the laws, the way heroes operate, the way villains get put away. The world might forgive you for messing up once or twice, but it never forgets." Terra sighed once before explaining, "I thought it'd be a lot easier for people to forget me if they thought I was still dead. That's why I've been hiding out, that's why I convinced Beastboy I didn't remember anything. I know it's selfish to want to feel normal, but I would never be able to be that if I came back as my old self."

Raven took in a slow breath and exhaled, understanding fully why Terra did what she did. "No it's not selfish to want to feel normal Terra. I'm sorry you couldn't come back to us."

Terra smiled at her. "Well my cover is blown now that I had to save your sorry ass," she said jokingly.

Raven rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. "So why did you bring me down here?"

"It was the only secure place I could think of. Knowing Slade, he had cameras and eyes all over the city. There's nothing down here that I wouldn't be able to detect," she said proudly.

"Won't he figure out that you might be hiding down here though?"

Terra looked at her with a glint of glee in her eye. "That's why we need to act fast."


	4. Death Wish

**Chapter 3: Death Wish**

It had all happened so fast, one minute she was there, the next she was missing, and then the alarm had went off. Earthquakes and vibrations shaking most of the city, by all accounts it should have been a natural disaster, but the city was still intact and one of its most dangerous and allusive criminals had been captured.

The only scare had been when they did finally find Raven, nearly destroyed and without memory of the incident.

The surprise was Terra with memory and with Raven in her arms.

The anticipation was what was going to happen to Slade and if Terra was going to stay with the Titans.

The irony was the same person who had killed Slade years ago was the same one to catch him.

Raven lay in Titans medical bay in what felt like a bizarre sense of déjà vu. This morning had been like any other, her going to school and preparing for tests, discussions and homework. Then Slade had attacked her…blindly, then attempted to kill her. She had met with Terra to discuss how to capture Slade, and somewhere along the way she had ended up right back in the medical bay.

She had never felt so defeated in her life, the lack of criminal activity these last few years had made her soft.

This time her team really had had to save her life, she had been in critical condition when they found her.

When she awoke she was in intense pain, knowing for sure she had a few broken bones, the headache of a concussion, her stomach burned and she could make out the spottiness of internal bleeding.

As her body finished healing itself, only one question kept repeating in her mind over and over…

_What the hell happened? _

The plan was to lure Slade to Terra, convince him that she wanted to be his apprentice again and then once his guard was down Raven would ambush him, alert the Titans from her communicator and the two of them would keep him busy until the rest of the Titans showed up.

They had considered using Raven as bait, Terra holding a hostage for Slade, one he wanted to kill, but the risk was too great since she had already nearly died once already that day.

So at what point had things gone bad? Somehow Raven had gotten nearly crushed to death during the battle and somehow Terra had managed to capture Slade on her own… something was not right, Raven could sense it, and yet her injuries had been so intense that her mind had completely blocked out more than half of the incident.

**-A Few hours Ago-**

It was reckless, naïve even to think they were finally going to be able to capture him, but Raven's better sense wasn't fueling her right now. The only thing fueling her was the anger, the frustration, and the curiosity. The man who helped deliver her to her father, the man who brought the end of the world with her, the man who went missing for years and suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Why had he come back and why was he trying to kill her…again.

It wasn't like Slade to do things without motive, it wasn't like Slade to be so impulsive with his actions, to just go after one of them and not get something out of it. What did he gain from her death this time around?

All of this and more she wanted to know, but mostly she just wanted to get back at him, slug him a few times across the jaw and finally put an end to this never ending cycle. He was an infection, a scar on their world. No one knew it better than her and Terra, and certainly Robin as well, they would all get their shot at him as soon as Slade arrived; which according to Terra would be any minute now.

Part of her worried this was a trap, what if Terra really did want to rejoin Slade and help him kill her? Terra and her had never been close, and Slade and Terra together could easily defeat her if they wanted to.

Raven stayed hidden in the shadows sensing his presence nearby, her heart started beating so hard she worried he might hear it. She started breathing more heavily than normal and realized she was getting nervous!

She wasn't scared of Slade, she stopped being scared of him a long time ago, but there was something new replaced by the fear, something she couldn't name as her fingers started to shake at the sound of his heavy footsteps approaching.

"Well isn't this familiar," his smooth baritone voice echoed off the cave walls. "The place where we both brought the city to its knees and the place where we both died."

Raven heard a shuffle across the room, and soon realized Terra was moving closer to him. "Yeah, good times," she said flatly.

"It's nice to see your abilities haven't completely vanished with your _amnesia._" Raven heard Terra scoff and could already imagine the snide smirk she was giving him.

"Well it's a little bit difficult to practice in private but I still remember how to get away with it." She heard a thoughtful sigh from Slade and was even surprised herself. Terra was even better now at being allusive, all these years and they had not once felt a rumble or disturbance her powers use to so easily cause, she really had gained more control.

"I taught you well," Slade remarked proudly.

"Don't get so full of yourself." There was an amusement in Terra's voice that made Raven uncomfortable. She had to remind herself that Terra had been alone with Slade for months. It wasn't so unusual that they were familiar to each other, but it did seem strange how convincing Terra made it seem when she had hated him so much in the end. She had after all been the one who killed him.

"Should I expect you to attack me?" Slade was moving closer to her. Raven summoned her black energy into her fists preparing to launch at him. "Or is this something else? Something more important than just mere revenge?"

Raven peeked out from her hiding spot and saw Terra still smirking. "Actually… I was hoping we could pick up where we left off."

From there everything was black. No memory of coming out behind the shadows, no memory of being crushed under the weight of heavy boulders, no recollection of the Titans bringing her back to the tower and her body automatically throwing itself into its healing unconsciousness.

She didn't like it. Not so much because she wanted to recall every single gritty detail, especially when it came to the pain, but the things that were now coming forth were troubling her most of all.

Somehow Slade had put Raven in the pathway of one of Terra's attacks which had nearly killed her. So at what point did Terra have time to capture him and save Raven at the same time? The fact of him being captured…was still not real to her.

Slade's identity wasn't so secretive anymore and Terra's information was more vast than any of them could imagine. Raven felt as though she had been played, even though Robin urged her that Terra had saved her life.

So far Raven had learned the bare minimum.

Slade was not some cover name like she had hoped for. Slade was Slade Wilson…Wilson…he actually had a last name, he was actually human.

Slade had been living within the public for years; he wouldn't have trouble hiding because as far as anyone was concerned he was just another rich anonymous business man. Money meant freedom and he didn't even have to steal it the way most criminals did. He knew how to properly invest and stabilize his money. Naturally most of his money came from his work as a mercenary; all _that_ money was untraceable of course.

The most surprising part was Slade use to be in the army, he had been a respected solider. Once again he naturally had a good reputation and spotless crime record. Slade Wilson was not Slade the villain to anyone in the public.

In fact, Slade had never even been dead when Terra defeated him years ago. Slade had colleagues of some kind that had kept all his finances, investments and contracts circulating for the entire year Slade had been among the dead.

Whoever his friend was had gone missing the second Slade had been captured, no coincidence of course. Slade had everything thought out, he was two steps ahead of everyone on all possibilities, which was what scared Raven even more. Whatever sentence he was going to receive he would be prepared for. At this point whatever sentence he received could be minimal to what he would have gotten four years ago.

Whatever happened now would be her fault inadvertently. There were thoughts running through her mind like locusts. Slade was just another guy in real life, Slade had been a soldier, Slade had a spotless record, Slade the man who helped her destroy the world was also the man who helped try to destroy Trigon.

Her father, his master, all until the very end when she regained her strength and when he regained his body, things could not be more complicated and she had no way of foreseeing the future.

She started to breathe easier as her ribs fully mended and her headache subsided, now all she could feel was a buzzing haze that always left her worn out from her healing abilities.

As she started to regain full consciousness she heard the _swoosh _of the medical bay doors opening.

_Not now please…_

She knew Robin had a bone to pick with her. She left the tower wounded, to secretly meet with a former Titan to try a defeat one of their most dangerous enemies.

She readied herself for a stern lecture and was surprised to see Beastboy standing in front of her.

"Raven," by the tone in his voice she could tell he was going to say something serious and deep. He rarely got like this, especially with her considering how odd and different they were around each other.

"What is it Garfield?" again she used his name to let him know that he had her full attention.

He stood awkwardly before her trying to find his words. "Why did you do this?" It was an elaborate and complicated question, with no simple answers. She didn't know how to answer so Beastboy continued on with an explanation.

"I know you think you have to do things alone, but I've already told you you're never alone. We already lost Terra once because of Slade, and today we almost lost you."

She finally realized that she had scared Beastboy with her near death incident, not as though it had never happened before, but usually her teammates were there to save her. This time she had been reckless and the worst part was all because she had wanted to capture Slade.

She could lie and say it was to protect her teammates, but it wasn't all together true. She had wanted revenge, and it was obvious that Beastboy knew that and wanted to know why she had acted on that instinct.

"I'm sorry Beastboy," she finally answered. "I wasn't thinking I suppose."

He gave her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "It really hurt when we lost Terra, and I know you've never been fond of her…"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, as if it truly mattered that her and Terra got along, but it did to Beastboy.

"I'm just glad she's back and I'm glad you're still here, you're my best friend you know." The lightness and sincerity in his voce made her feel a bit guilty. She knew in some strange sense he did regard her as his best friend.

She wished she could say the same, but it was still hard for her to fully b herself in front of him. What it was that Beastboy felt towards her was a need for closeness which he would never receive. He had to put effort and energy into being someone to her, and that was why he regarded her so highly.

She wished she could put in one half of the energy that he did, but she didn't have it in her. She cared for him very deeply, but not nearly in the same way he did for her.

"We're going to be a different team now," she said passively. He looked at her confused and she only exhaled wearily. "Terra is back, Slade is captured…and we don't even know what kind of sentence he's going to receive. We haven't even had time to process the fact that he's returned."

He exhaled just as tiredly as her and grabbed a stool to sit next to her bed. He had similar thoughts swimming through his head as well. "I know… I still can't believe you guys managed to capture him."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Technically Terra did most of the work, I feel as though we've gone soft in our approach to fighting."

"Well we haven't done any serious fighting in a while," he said as though he actually missed the old days.

"So how did Terra manage to do it by herself?" Raven asked suspiciously.

The question made Beastboy uncomfortable. "Maybe she has more control than we realized, maybe she remembers something about Slade that we don't, she was his apprentice for a while."

So was Robin, and yet he had never been able to bring Slade down. What kind of weakness would Terra know about them that none of them did?

"I don't want to think about it right now," Raven admitted out loud. "I just want to see Slade's ass put in prison," she added with a loud groan stretching out her muscles.

Beastboy chuckled beside her not use to her being so crass and crude. She smirked back lightly realizing that although she still wasn't one hundred percent comfortable around him, it had gotten easier though out the years.

His face suddenly got serious again. "Raven…what if they don't send him to prison. What if they give him a lighter sentence."

She swallowed thickly and took in a shaky breath before reply with heavy sarcasm, "Then kill me now."

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><p>AN: I know this seems like I'm leaving out a huge chunk of the story trying to rush to the whole Slade and Raven thing, but this chapter will come back in a very important way, the details will be revealed in due time…(Evil Laugh)… Review!


	5. Punishment

**Chapter 4: Punishment**

The authorities were not very forgiving or grateful for superheroes. In fact most of them resented them for making their jobs even more difficult, the salary hadn't changed and the labor of finding proper reprimands wasn't always met with cooperation. Many super beings had an ego and thought they were above certain rules.

Raven wanted to prove humble and cooperative, but the latest of reemerging faces in her life had all but taken the good graces out of her. Her body was physically drained from all the healing and mending. Her brain was still frazzled and confused, there didn't seem to be any new facts on what exactly had happened between Terra and Slade, and where she fell in the middle of all this. Her emotions were rampant, mostly due to everyone else around her. Her teammates were either confused, excited or anxious to the highest degree.

She ran her hands over her face grumpily and let out a long impatient sigh. They had been at the city council board for hours now and everyone was arguing on what to do. They were still waiting to hear what Slade's sentence was and what Raven's punishment would be for causing so much damage during her first fight with Slade.

There was also some talk about Terra's reinstatement, but no concrete decisions could be made until the FBI was done interviewing her. Terra made Raven more nervous than anything, her presence back on the team… she still didn't know how she felt about that.

She had heard over and over that they were revealing Slade's actual face all over the news. Of course Robin had wanted to see it, but Raven had hidden in her room to completely avoid that possibility. She wasn't ready.

The head police chief of the city finally sat down with them with a heavy sigh. When it came to the dealings of villains, there court proceedings were done quickly and privately, it had only been a week of deciding, and yet it felt as though a whole year had gone by. All of the Titans wanted to know what the final verdict was.

All of them were praying for a long prison sentence, but that was no longer up to them.

Officer Berkley had met with the Titans several times, more often than not the sentencing's were usually to the Titans liking. Their less dangerous enemies got lighter sentences, the stronger ones were in confinement, some in prison.

Slade was different though.

He was not your common criminal, he was a mastermind, a conqueror, a business man. The sentence could go many different ways. For one, many of his crimes had been very serious such as the targeting of superheroes and takeover of the city when Terra had been his apprentice.

However the incidents had been followed by a large inactivity period as far as the Titans went, some of his contracts were not all together illegal but more in secret. Slade's time in the army had made him a mercenary for the CIA and some of the U.S allies.

Not all of his contracts were issued by people outside of the system which put law enforcement in an awkward predicament now the CIA and FBI officials were ordering that information be acknowledge to just the Titans and not the public.

His work as a business man also put a strain on others since Slade owned, invested and funded several businesses. They couldn't revoke his name without revoking his money which would bankrupt several places and cost jobs.

His private work with charities and city council contributions made his evil deeds a little less and less obvious.

It angered Robin to finally have this information and he wished he had broken the rules of security a bit more when the law was still a little more lenient to them. Naturally most of Slade's money work was under private and restricted terms since he was a billionaire and didn't want the public knowing of his fortune which was made ready for many of the rich and famous since they could easily be targeted by dangerous villains.

Robin had repeatedly searched for the name Slade, but there were far too many names, or similar names to pin point one exactly. Slade Wilson himself was an unlikely suspect since no priors had shown up. In Robin's line of work almost all criminals had a history, but Slade had little to none.

Either because it was hidden or unknown, whatever punishment he was going to receive was not going to be good enough.

* * *

><p>"Are you fucking kidding me!"<p>

She wasn't sure who had screamed it. Maybe it was Robin in anger, maybe it was Beastboy in disbelief, or maybe it was her in denial. But the sentence was beyond bogus, beyond comprehension, and as great as she could define it, _dumb-witted_.

Home confinement was the largest part of Slade's verdict. Fines and loss of certain benefits and assets were to be expected; but to not go to prison and to serve one year in home confinement without the use of computer, phone, television, or visitors was hardly a punishment suit for someone like Slade

Yet they had been assured over and over again that it was the best sentencing they saw fit for him.

"We discussed this at length," officer Berkley argued stubbornly. "You can take this up with the judge if you wish, you can talk to city council or you can go to the mayor for all I care! But our decision is final."

Robin had every intention of battling this, he wanted Slade in prison. Yet with the verdict already in place, there was no way of making a real impact; Especially when the laws dictated little input from superheroes when it came to the court proceedings.

"However…" officer Berkley continued with more bad news. "There are other matters we need to discuss, particularly involving you," he said pointing right at Raven.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck_

This was another large part of the day she had been dreading. She knew the way she had gone at Slade so intensely was bound to cost her a few reprimands.

"Well the repairs to the college and the one student car you destroyed are going to have to come out of your budget."

_Naturally, _out of everything that had happened during that fight that was something she regretted. She liked her school, she liked the faculty and students. She knew wrecking the entrance and someone's car had only made things harder on them.

"You damaged a police squad car," he said with heavy resentment in his voice.

She wanted to argue with Berkley that that had been Slade's fault, but Robin quickly gave her a look that told her to shut up.

"That will also come out of your budget." When police or any other federal property was damaged, it coasted them more dearly than anything else. Superheroes were largely funded by taxes and donations, any essentials of their own personal belongings came from their own pockets.

However since many heroes didn't live double lives, like the Titans, any extra money _use _to come from extra jobs such as help with construction. But now that the laws dictated that heroes didn't get extra pay from reconstruction, there had been some large cutbacks for the Titans such as buying extra food, books for Raven, or car parts for Cyborg.

Whenever their budget got cut it became a burden, Robin had called in extra money from Bruce once or twice so that they didn't have to eat pizza every single freaking night or so they could have emergency money for spare parts for the tower in case of an attack or cyber hack.

The government helped cover a lot, but budget cuts hurt them in a lot of ways that slowed down their job.

Raven could feel the stress of a limited budget already taking its toll on her teammates, the feelings she felt swimming around the room were mutual.

Robin and Cyborg stood behind her, both of them clenching and unclenching their fists, Beastboy sat to her left rubbing his sweaty forehead worriedly, Starfire to her right, had wavering eyes and was taking deep contemplative breaths.

Raven herself was grinding her teeth, furrowing her brow, and getting a headache from this entire process. She wanted to tell officer Berkley to screw off and walk out, but there was still something else he had to address with her.

"As you know, when we issue sentences for home confinement or probation, we usually assign either an officer to check in on the criminal, or we assign one of you if we feel like our people aren't trained or experienced enough to handle someone of this caliber."

This time Raven accidently bit her lip and could feel the swelling of a bruise. She already knew one of them would have to keep tabs on Slade.

Poor Robin…having to go into Slade's home, listening to his condescending banter, having to investigate anything remotely suspicious he could be plotting. Naturally there was no way for Slade to be monitored 24/7 to the highest degree of caution. An ankle bracelet and public exposure of his face would hardly be an obstacle for him to overcome.

Raven was betting within two weeks he would disappear once again. Maybe in another four years he would return and try to kill her again, she almost scoffed at the idea.

She felt a shift in Robin and she knew he was becoming serious and going into leader mode, prepared to deal with the task of monitoring Slade. There was no one better for the job.

"**Raven **you will be spending an hour each day monitoring Slade's home and checking his progress."

The room seemed to go utterly still and quiet. Everyone was looking at each other as though they had misheard officer Berkley.

Raven stared straight at him only to have him stare back, he was serious, and everyone in the room was livid.

Robin quickly leaned over her and placed his hand firmly on the table trying to stay composed and not shout at Berkley. "Excuse me, as the leader of the Titans, I have to strongly advise and go against this decision."

Officer Berkley shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Robin lazily. "Once again that's not my call, if you have a problem with the decision then you need to take it up with city council, but I have to tell you we picked Raven for **many** strong reasons."

"Such as?" demanded Robin becoming more and more angered with what was happening to his teammate.

Raven was speechless as the reasons started coming out like one bad shock after another. "Well as far as monitoring goes, you're the best suited since you can sense emotions, we also feel like this is an appropriate punishment for you, normally we would suspend you for such overly aggressive attacks."

"Overly aggressive! In case you didn't realize I was fighting for my life out there!" Raven realized she had been shouting when Robin put a firm hand on her shoulder.

Berkley was about to speak again but she quickly cut him off trying to pound some sense into his brain. "This is a man who helped deliver me to my father and essentially caused the end of the world," argued Raven. Yes it was true, in her mind she did blame Slade for what happened. It's why she still hated him as greatly as she did. "Not to mention he tried to kill me twice, yet you think it's a good idea to have me be the one to enter his house alone!"

"To be fair…" Berkley replied calmly and evenly. "By our accounts, during the end of the world scenario, you went with him voluntarily; he did assist you all in trying to defeat Trigon. In fact Robin, you mentioned that it was Slade who helped lead you to Raven when you all assumed she was dead."

Raven looked up at Robin in shock. He had guilt flooding off him as he tried to explain, "I did mention that in my report yes, but I did also mention that the only reason Slade had done that was because he had an agenda, to retrieve his body."

The prosecutor quickly regarded his answer with another comeback. "So why wouldn't Slade just retrieve his body and leave you all on your own, technically he didn't have to help you all out at all."

For the first time in her life Raven watched her leader become speechless. She sighed tiredly and knew there was no escaping this. "His past merits hardly put him at the top of our most dangerous list, by all means his biggest target is you, we don't want him targeting the League with such brutality."

Raven rolled her eyes, the Justice League always came first, and the Titans were viewed as secondary heroes, still viewed as teens, as sidekicks, as leftovers. Of course it would be one of them to watch him and monitor him, and of course it would be Raven since she was the one to last be so involved with him and all his destruction.

"And I shouldn't mention this but…" Raven narrowed her eyes at Berkley as he looked at her with curiosity and suspicion. "But Slade had specifically asked for you…"

His sentence faded off as though he were waiting for her to give him an explanation of why Slade had requested she be the one to be his probation officer.

"Because he wants to kill me!" Raven remarked harshly.

Berkley shook his head is total disagreement. "He actually swore to us that he had no intention of hurting you any further, he only wants Raven entering his home. He said she's the only one…that he trusts."

This time the odd looks all turned towards Raven as she too seemed bewildered by this information. "He's lying," she added weakly.

Again Berkley only shrugged his shoulders. "He targeted you for a reason, he's the reason for your own reprimands and we feel it's the best option for now. If we feel like you are at risk or this isn't the best Titan to be within Slade's proximity then we will reconsider."

Raven had become so numb by then that she barely heard officer Berkeley mutter in, "There will also be a mandatory psychiatric evaluation you'll have to attend for a week to make sure your emotions are as in check as you claim them to be."


	6. Ode to a Raven

A/N: What Slade really thinks of Raven and only two more chapters away from them being stuck together in his home!

I'm posting this chapter now because I'm going to be extremely busy this weekend before returning to work and I don't know when the next chapter will be ready even though I already have the rough draft ready, I'm trying to keep the updates current as possible but I have been known to fall off the radar from time to time but I will do my best to not let that happen! Anyway, enjoy.

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: Ode to a Raven<strong>

It had been a joke of a capture, and joke of a sentence, and the biggest joke was how little the Titans knew and that Raven couldn't remember. He was sure she was racked with utter confusion as to why he requested her as his probation officer.

_Oh, wouldn't you like to know little bird. _

You might ask how can it be so difficult to find a man with only one eye? You'd be surprised. Jump City was by no means small, it was actually extremely large and filled with dozens of strange ailments such as missing body parts. People got hurt all the time, it was just a fact for any large city with super powered villains, Slade was hardly the first and only person to sport an eye patch.

Although a person of Slade's stature and presence was a rare thing to behold, the sad truth was Slade's in-home confinement was not a real punishment to him because he almost never left home. Public life had never been needed.

Wintergreen, his best friend and loyal servant, was the one who would do the grocery shopping, the runner of his mail, the advisor and negotiator of his finances, his bank and his business partners didn't even know what he looked like.

When you have money and had enough to hand it out, people hardly cared what you looked like or did for a living.

His only company, besides Wintergreen, was other villains and even they never saw his true face. But his human face was not his true face, his mask was. And now he had been robbed of that.

That had been the only part of this punishment which he felt unfairly dealt on him. His flesh and skin broadcasted all over the news like a half-time show, and people looking at him with a little less fear and a different kind of curiosity he loathed.

Once his sentence was over he didn't know what would happen to his personal life. Now that his identity was out and open he would possibly have to change it and go into hiding all over again, this time would be more complicated but it wasn't all together impossible.

Wintergreen was safe and hidden away as prepared for such circumstances, when he would see him again he had no way of knowing, but he wasn't about to let his greatest accomplice take the fall for any of his deeds.

He just had to serve his time and be more careful, for what it was worth he had had a good run, but just because people knew what his face looked like didn't mean it had to stop there, this was just the start of something new.

For some dyeing means the end, for others it means a beginning. For Slade it meant seeing things that still haunted him and feeling things he didn't know he could feel.

His very own apprentice had betrayed him and he paid with his life. His biggest failure in his life was never asserting full and total control over his attempted apprentices.

Mastering control and dominance in all aspects of his life was what made him such an accomplished and secretive criminal and mercenary. Nothing in his life brought him regret except for failing to create his ideal successor.

It was similar to the way people wanted kids; someone to follow in your footsteps, someone to do better than you, someone to carry on your name and legacy.

Slade thought breaking the will of troubled teenagers would be easy, he had been sorely mistaken by the amount of will and troubles young people had these days.

Ultimately it would be his downfall had it not been for one Titan in particular…

The beginning of death is always painful. Not only was Slade treated to lava eating away his skin, muscles, organs, and systems, he felt the shutting down of his brain, the stopping of his heart, the explosion of his lungs. Pain so unreal you know it's what you're dying from; not the lava, the pain.

It felt like he had slept for an eternity when awoke to see a four-eyed creature staring at him.

A demon.

Eyes so blood red you couldn't help but be afraid and be fascinated all at the same time.

There was a literal heaven and hell, and he was very deserving of his placement, his time of mortality had proven him perfect for a job of bringing about the end of the world.

The four-eyed creature had called itself Trigon and soon went into detail of his daughter, someone Slade was rather familiar with.

Raven.

One of the less interesting Titans… had suddenly become very interesting and all the more fun to hunt down in all her vulnerability.

Oh how he enjoyed the job of breaking in his little bird. Her control, resilience and denial, he had broken her to the point of willingly following him to her end and it was the first time since returning from the dead that he felt like he had completed a job so beautifully. It was only natural he received his payment.

He had been foolish, he hated to admit he should have heeded Raven's warning, but throughout his life as a business man, when you completed a contract you honored all agreements. He had forgotten the fact that he was dealing with an all powerful devil, devils lied and deceived to no end, they didn't have honor or priorities because they weren't created with such notions.

The whole ordeal with Raven had changed him, and some days he rather he just stayed dead.

For one he had died, or rather murdered, by his own apprentice. As if that hadn't been humiliating enough, he then became a servant boy for a devil in order to regain his body.

He was virtually numb throughout, he hadn't been able to feel pain or pleasure physically, but the emotional side of him had never felt so immense, because of her… he didn't like that she was the one who had stirred the strongest emotions he could have ever experienced.

He had a few benefits to that awful ordeal, supernatural abilities, targeting a new Titan to which he had incredible knowledge of, and actually witnessing the end of the world.

Although he was a mercenary and power fiend, he didn't have a psychopathic desire to destroy the world, just to conquer it. Witnessing the end of humanity was something that only he and the Titans got to see, something he and Raven brought to pass.

He had known things about her before her friends ever did, he got to see the true extent of her powers and the severity of her dark side. He always knew there was something bad, something evil within her; he never would have guessed she was the literal daughter of the devil.

He had a few times to study her better during their fight, things more intimate and personal then just watching her from a point of security and secrecy. He had a vivid memory of her and their interactions on her birthday, but the images hardly left him wanting to see more of her.

Now at 20 years old she a lot less interesting; still sickly attached to her friends, still broody and standoffish, sarcastic and headstrong. It had been rather amusing when it was _her_ that caused the shift in how heroes could perform now.

Out of all the super beings to make such drastic change in the world and it was a meager Titan girl just barely old enough to enter college.

She still had dark lavender hair, barely longer than it had been before, only he knew why she hated her hair long. Her skin paler than pale, made even more propionate by her dark features, her eyes were big and violet and still angry and sad.

She wasn't his type by any means. She was dark and exotic, but not traditionally beautiful which is what he preferred. He was a typical man of discriminating taste, blondes, tan skin, soft and charming. Raven couldn't fit the mold in all her lifetime no matter how much the world's taste in women changed, she was too unapproachable.

None the less she was interesting to look at, in a morbid sense it was interesting to look at her because he knew what she looked like underneath her clothes.

He knew so much of what her skin looked like and she didn't even know what his face looked like, it was an advantage he had over her, and that's how he liked it.

When she had tried going for his mask during their little romp he had seriously considered breaking her hand, but the fact that her last dying wish had been to see his face had given his ego a big rise, it meant she wanted something from him.

She would get it too. Soon enough she would be entering his home for an hour each day and forced to be around his personal items and his very presence.

He liked the idea of her squirming at his sight, he didn't enjoy the idea of her entering his private world, he didn't want her in his home, but he needed it to be her.

It would be a year, everyday for an hour… it would almost be like old times. After her birthday he had disrupted her dreams, meditation and daily activities just as a reminder of her fate, now she would have that opportunity and he was interested to see how she would carry out this new circumstance of them being forced together by fate.

* * *

><p>There was a preliminary meeting before anything else took place. It was the day she would finally behold his face and get to really look him in the eye.<p>

She still didn't want to see him, she didn't want to follow through with this process, she was going to enter his home day in and day out and on top of it all… she had to meet with a therapist to assess that she was a functioning superhero.

The whole team wanted to go with her to Slade's holding cell, but she had vehemently refused to let them tag-along as a form of moral support. She didn't want Slade perceiving her as weak and unable to hold her own, she also didn't want her team to witness if that really would be the case.

When it came to Slade, she had no real way of foretelling how she would react, but whatever emotion came forward it was always a negative one.

By the time she got to the county jail there was already a audience of press surrounding the entrance.

"Son of a…"

As she flew over head all the reporters and journalist started to shout at her and bulbs to cameras were going off. She quickly phased through the roof of the building, scaring the crap out of a security guard.

Officer Berkley led her to the holding cells. As she expected most of the ingrates either shouted at her in rebellious anger, while others cowered at her sight. Slade sat calmly and composed as if this was nothing, and he was right, this was nothing.

She regarded him quickly and then looked away, refusing to make an observation or lasting impression. He had a human face and at that point that was all that mattered to her.

Slade meanwhile frowned as the young Titan refused to give him half a second of a look. Why was she so disinterested in seeing his face now? He didn't consider himself ugly even with the eye patch, older yes but not impossible to look at.

She stood a foot away from his cell and faced officer Berkley as he went over the terms of Slade's at home-confinement.

"Two days from now after we have done a complete sweep your home Slade, you will be allowed to return with an ankle monitor. Any deviation of the device will immediately set off police and Titan alarms, there will be an extra perimeter of officers around your home at all times."

_Doubtful, _thought Slade knowing if he did have plans for escape that even the best police units wouldn't be able to slow him down. The police force had gotten just as lazy as its superheroes.

"Raven in addition to your mandatory psychiatric evaluation," Slade chuckled much to Raven's annoyance. The thought of her having to sit down with a shrink was too amusing. "You will monitor and track Slade's behavior and make sure he isn't violating any terms of his confinement or plotting any escape or attack tactics in any way shape or form as stated by law…"

Raven drowned out the rest of the speech painfully aware that Slade's one good eye was boring into the back of her head like heat vision. Why had he asked for her?

And why didn't he just try and kill her now? She was standing close enough to the cell bars that he could easily snake an arm though and choke her to death like he had tried to do before. Why did he suddenly want **her **to monitor his actions and be in his home?

Was this some game?

Of course, everything was a game to Slade, everything had its reasons and agendas. Raven just didn't know what it was he had intended for her.

She tried to refocus her thoughts back to officer Berkley since he was the only other distraction in the room.

"...So do you understand all the terms and guidelines to this situation?" Both Raven and Slade said nothing and stared back at officer Berkley with bored expressions, he licked his lips awkwardly and nodded to the both of them. "Alrighty then, I just have to process the last of the paper work for you to look over and then well…"

Again neither of them said anything and Berkley rushed off leaving the two of them alone.

Slade leaned his head back against the cold cell wall while Raven continued to try and ignore him. Every now and then she would sigh and he would just watch. Growing tired of the silence he decided to try and speak.

"How about a nice chat?"

He saw her flinch before snapping back, "No," crossing her arms tightly around her chest and grinding her teeth.

"Pathetic," he murmured shifting his legs uncomfortably against the wooden log they stupidly called a seat.

She clenched her jaw tightly as her eyes went hot. "I can't believe I am here with you," she seethed viciously. If she had a way to kill him right now she would. She would scream and cry and beat him to a pulp with great effort.

She was mad, she was one of those women who got so worked up that she either reacted in violence or by completely shutting down.

Right now he didn't know which was worse. He couldn't stand her flimsy and crazed ways of attacking, but he really couldn't stand a chick who brooded and pouted.

"If it helps I can hardly believe it myself," he continued to talk to her as she shifted her weight from leg to leg agitated and keeping a look out for Berkley's return. "I do believe the last time we were in a room alone together you were reminding me how insignificant I was."

This time she went still as though she too were replaying that memory in her head.

"How insignificant does it feel to play the role of probation officer and no longer the role of an actual crime stopper? How insignificant has your job become after you destroyed the world and the way superheroes use to do their job? Must weigh on your conscious very heavily."

Slade saw officer Berkley returning and glanced one last time at Raven and noticed she was shaking.


	7. Therapy Time

**Chapter 6: Therapy Time**

She didn't know how it worked, didn't care to know how it worked. Dr. Adam Greg P.H.D had been the Titans private therapist for three and a half years. Raven was surprised they had even managed to find a specialist willing to meet with super heroes when everything was supposed to be confidential. She couldn't imagine how many people berated him for any kind of secret information he might be holding, not that there was anything important to know, but the public was nosy and actually cared about their private lives as though they were celebrities.

God forbid she went to a different tea shop and there had to be some cheesy tabloid picture filled with ridiculous speculation about why she chose a different place to purchase her tea. Did the last place not sell her favorite brand, were the owners disrespectful, or was Raven a pretentious snob who didn't think the previous shop met her standards? The truth: Raven was curious about another shop and decided to go in and look around.

There were so many instances where people misread or elaborated things about them. Once a gossip sight insisted that her and Beastboy were dating because there were dozens of snapshots where he was fighting by her side or helping her up from being knocked down in a fight, never mind the fact that the rest of her teammates did the same. One particularly cruel journalist tried to convince the media that Robin was cheating on Starfire with Batgirl and Robin was nothing more than a player toying with the alien girl's heart.

Raven had been so strongly opposed to therapy because Azar only knew what misconceptions or opinions this man already had about her. She wasn't looking forward to it no matter how much Beastboy tried to convince her that he was really good at his job.

"Raven," a voice called for her.

She looked up and remembered she was still in the waiting room, Dr. Greg was standing in the doorway of his office and looking at her curiously. "Ready?"

His office was bigger than she expected, and more welcoming. She expected white walls, ugly leather chairs and degrees hung all over to show how qualified he was. Instead the walls were a grass green, there was a large tan sofa and two loveseats, the walls had landscape paintings and shelves filled with books.

Overall the room was warm and non-intimidating. Raven still didn't feel any better about the situation as Dr. Greg sat down in one of the loveseats and waved his arm to the sofa inviting her to sit down. She was glad there was a coffee table separating them, the farther apart they were the better.

The one thing she was a little glad about was that the doctor was older, probably near his sixties, which meant he was at least experienced as opposed to some newbie just getting out of college.

His hair was nearly gone and white around the edges, his face had deep wrinkles and age spots, his eyes had big deep bags underneath. He was exceptionally handsome and charming with a deep baritone voice, dark brown skin, green eyes and an impeccable white smile; no wonder Beastboy and Starfire liked him, he was a nice man, which meant him and Raven weren't going to get along.

"So, we finally meet," he started the conversation with a light smile aimed at her waiting for a response. Raven didn't give him one, instead she chose to look out the window at the neighboring building which showed nothing of interest. "Beautiful day isn't it?" he asked glancing out the window as well.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. It wasn't going to help the time pass if she just sat there like a log and he talked at her. "Yeah I guess," she answered in a deadpanned tone.

His brows rose up as though he were surprised she actually answered him. "I suppose it doesn't feel good being forced here against your will," he offered sympathetically.

"Yeah you think," Raven spat sarcastically. She felt a little bad when his face fell into an expression she couldn't read, perhaps just more curiosity. "Sorry," she grumbled out tiredly. "I just don't see the point in any of this, not the evaluation, but therapy I guess."

He shrugged his shoulders in understanding and become more comfortable as though he had some assessment of her. "It could be for self discovery, it could be for venting, or it could be for the mere purpose of talking and letting someone know how you feel."

"I don't think this is necessary," she repeated flatly. "Just because I lost my cool in a fight doesn't mean I need a psychiatrist. I mean, who in their right mind would tell a complete stranger their feelings and thoughts?"

He regarded her question seriously even though she hadn't meant for him to. "Some people find it easier to tell a stranger their private thoughts and feelings, someone they know won't reveal anything, someone who doesn't know us so well and unable to properly judge us. Sometimes we don't want the people closest to us to know the truth because it might hurt them," he explained wisely. "Our main goal here is to make sure you can function at your job in a healthy and safe way, nothing more nothing less."

Raven grimaced and tucked her lips in stubbornly. This is why she didn't like therapists; they were so damn knowledgeable when they were good at their jobs.

"And what if you determine that I'm not fit to properly do my job?" she asked lowly and anxiously.

"Then perhaps we assign another one of your teammates to monitor Slade Wilson and you get put on suspension," he said it so matter-of-factly that it seemed to be no big to him, but to her it was a very big deal.

It was a double-edged sword, on the one hand she liked the idea of having an excuse for not being the one to monitor Slade, and on the other hand she wouldn't be able to assist her friends in battle. She didn't like the idea of being termed "unfit" for any kind of job assigned to her.

But mostly she didn't want anyone thinking she couldn't handle Slade, least of all herself.

She supposed the best thing to do was to be honest with Dr. Greg, lord knows there had been times she wished she had been more honest with people about certain things. Her being honest about her father and birthright probably would've been a prime example.

Anything he asked she would answer, anything he didn't ask didn't need to be brought up as far as she was concerned.

He gave her a tight smile and let her process her feelings before speaking again. "So I take it you're not going to return once this mandatory regulation is over?"

She shrugged her shoulder uncommitted. "Do my teammates find this helpful at all?" she asked curiously. It seemed to put Beastboy more at ease, but how helpful could that source be?

He gave her a similar non-committed shrug. "For some it's helpful, for others it's just another thing to do, another chore. Not like it does any harm in talking to someone about things" he said vaguely.

"I find it pointless to talk about anything that's not important or necessary," she replied trying to kill the time as quickly as possible. She still had forty minutes left of this nonsense.

"You think your feelings aren't important?" he asked inquiring.

"My feelings and my emotions are dangerous if not controlled," she said gravely. "I only use them for my powers, to protect my friends."

"Well that's important then isn't it?" he watched her pause thoughtfully and continued. "You talk as though your emotions, if not contained, are going to hurt those around you, yet it seems to me that your friends allow you to feel more than you realize, and your friends put a great deal of trust in you."

She furrowed her brows at him, "Based off what exactly?"

"Based off of what your friends, Starfire and Beastboy tell me and based off how many times you've gone into battle and saved dozens of people, you can't discount your feelings when it's the core reason for why you choose to use your powers in the first place."

Raven continued to sit there silently as the man continued to summarize her and her reasoning.

"You care about people, like any decent person you worry that you might hurt the ones you love, but you fail to credit yourself with all the good you've done," he exclaimed calmly, pausing to let her react.

"I haven't always done good things," she stated seriously. "I've done a lot of terrible things too, a lot of really horrible things." She didn't go into detail, he knew as well as anyone else her history.

He only stretched out his hands as though it didn't matter. "And yet you have friends who love you, you still have a city that looks to you for saving. You're not perfect Raven, all good men and women make mistakes; the worst of mistakes, but what matters is how you make up for those mistakes." He stopped waiting for her to respond but she didn't, instead she sighed already worn out from the session, thirty-five minutes left to go.

"Is this suppose to make me feel better…or enlightened? Spouting inspirational quotes of romantic optimism?"

Her dryness and sarcasm didn't put him off like most people. She couldn't decide if she liked it or loathed it.

"I don't want you to feel as though I'm trying to force anything out of you," he said leaning forward and looking her in the eye. "I want you to feel free to talk about anything without reprimand or judgment, and ultimately I want you to feel better about your situation, because even though it seems like torture now…doesn't mean you can't get something beneficial out of this."

Wow… this guy was actually trying to be helpful to her, he was actually trying to reach out to her; the fact that it was part of his job kind of put a damper of his sincerity, yet he was taking his job seriously. Beastboy, was right, the doctor was good.

Noticing that he now had her full cooperation he sat all the way back in his chair getting comfortable, Raven couldn't help but feel as though he had trapped her in a way. The beautiful entrapments of reverse psychology.

He smiled at her and started, "So…what would you like to talk about?"

* * *

><p>"Anger."<p>

Raven blinked and saw a vision of herself in a red hood and cloak.

"What drives you to anger?"

"My father," she answered bluntly. "Even in death I hate the fact that he's a part of who I am."

He nodded at her and leaned so that his elbows rested on his knees. "So what about your enemies? Do you usually go at them with the same amount of force that you did with Slade?"

_No _thought Raven but answered differently. "It's different."

"Explain that," he urged.

She lifted a shoulder and shook her head as though there was no proper way to explain it. "He has put me and my friends through more pain than any other villain, other than my father, and even then he was my father's accomplice."

"You stated earlier that you have the ability of empathy." Had she? It felt like the time was suddenly flying by, she realized they now only had ten minutes left. What else could they cover in that time? She had explained her powers to him a little further and just now they were barely getting to Slade which she expected the bulk of this meeting to be about.

"Yes, I can sense exactly what people are feeling, sometimes it helps...other times it's a hindrance," she explained rapidly wanting to get to the point.

"Does it give you a good idea of what people are like, does it give you a good understanding of their overall character?"

"Where are you going with this?" she finally asked knowing that the subject of Slade and her anger hadn't been taken off the table.

"What does your empathy tell you about this particular man, had it clouded your better judgment in some way? You've made it very clear how it is you feel about him, what emotions does he project to you, or rather at you? 'Cause it seems to me that he put a great amount of personal energy into targeting you these past few days."

He was right about that, the amount of anger Slade aimed towards her was unlike any other, but his reasons behind it she couldn't dissect. She wasn't a mind reader and she didn't have enough of a psychological background to summarize or explain where the feeling rooted from.

"It's a very strong kind of hatred followed by…some strange curiosity."

"Curiosity?" Dr. Greg piqued interested. "He knows a great deal about you already, probably more than you'd like, what is it about you that he's so curious about?"

Raven looked to the ground thinking of the fight for the millionth time today: The way he had studied her, the tilt in his head, the amusement in her reactions to him.

"_Well if it isn't my favorite Titan." _

Raven shook her head and muttered, "I don't know."

She glanced at the clock and realized there time for the day had finally ended.

* * *

><p>AN: When I write Dr. Greg I always reference him to , the psychiatrist from House MD, someone who I think would be perfectly equipped to deal with someone like Raven. Review!


	8. How It Feels

A/N: A meeting with Terra before her return and a meeting with Dr. Adam Greg, before being thrown into the home of Slade Wilson. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: How It Feels<strong>

Tomorrow would be the day, she was dreading each passing second as though the time were mocking her with how unbearably fast it was going by. Each time she dared look at the clock it seemed to have moved another 30 minutes, to another hour, now the sun had reached its peak and was preparing to set in what Raven felt was an unreasonable time.

She was about to head out of the tower to meet with Dr. Adam Greg for another day of talking and sharing. She felt as though her flying abilities were rusted with sand and mud, she was tired, grumpy, and irritable. Not a good day to say the least.

**-2 Hours Ago-**

They had discussed it at length, more than Raven would've preferred. She didn't trust her any more than Robin, but even if she had spoken up at any point during the debating, it would've been outnumbered 3 to 2.

Terra was willing to return to the Titans, and Starfire, Cyborg, and especially Beastboy were willing to take her back.

Robin didn't like the secrecy Terra still seemed to harbor, and year's worth of "amnesia" claiming made her honesty flimsy at best.

It was a risk either way you looked at it. Yes she was powerful and useful asset to the team, yes she was a missed friend, yes she had saved their lives (Raven's twice) but she had a bad track record of commitment, trustworthiness, stability, and predictability.

Raven didn't have words for any of her teammates concerning Terra. She already knew the inevitability of second chances, everyone was entitled to one, but that didn't necessarily mean they deserved it.

Robin had approached her more than once on her muteness on the matter, and her response was always the same. "It doesn't matter Robin."

Their lives had changed all over again with the reappearance of Slade and Terra and there was little they could do to control it, they just had to roll with the punches as they came. The less they tried to fight it the easier it would be to deal with, whatever happened they would have to handle when it occurred.

There was no certainty of the future other than Terra's return and Raven's punishment in being stuck to Slade for a whole year.

As these thoughts crossed her mind over and over Raven finally arrived to the safe house where Terra was staying, she teleported herself into the house without permission, which quickly upset the police agent with her.

"Excuse me, this is a private meeting!" the butch woman practically screeched at Raven.

She regarded her coldly. "Well now there's about to be a Titans meeting… so leave."

The woman was about to holler at her again before Terra walked towards a separate room excusing herself, Raven followed and slammed the door behind her which got an exasperated sound out of the officer who stomped around the living room shouting into her phone to her superior.

"Thank god, I needed a break from all the rules and regulations of my reinstatement," said Terra rolling her eyes. "If I had known it was going to be this much of a hassle I would've just let Slade kill you the first time."

She said it in a joking way that wasn't so convincing to Raven's ears. It was hard to detect exactly what Terra's true feelings were, the problem with people who constantly lie is that on some level they need to believe what they're saying is true in order to be convincing. There's a level of reasoning they do to convince themselves that the lies are justified and overall better, makes them feel less guilty and less prone to giving anything away.

Terra was like that. She didn't possess regret for her actions until they failed her in the worst ways. It didn't necessarily make her evil, but it did make her dangerous.

"Well there are special requirements and expectations of those who have been known to run off once or twice on their friends and allies," Raven said deadpanned as she looked Terra in the eyes.

Terra's smile immediately fell to a frown as she crossed her arms and straightened her back. "Ok Raven, what are you doing here? Are you going to lecture me on how I don't deserve to be a Titan or that I'm not worthy of your trust and approval."

"My approval hardly matters since you're coming back anyway," Raven said with a hard edge in her voice. "My only reservation is the whole incident in which I can't remember anything."

Terra only stared back at her like stone. "I saved your life again and captured Slade for you, for everyone, and yet you still think I have something to hide?"

"You always have something to hide," snapped Raven glaring at her. "Excuse me if I don't believe that you could capture him single handedly, you were never that good at controlling your powers and Slade has never been that easy to take down."

Terra rolled her eyes. "Well it was more than easy when he was so distracted with killing you," sniped Terra as she turned her back to Raven and walked over to the only window in the empty room. The view over looked the ocean and off in the distance you could see Titans Tower sitting out on its little island like a marker.

"Slade isn't that stupid, he's organized and tactful. He wouldn't be so distracted as to let the likes of you defeat him," Raven accused harshly.

Terra let out a breath of a laugh as she turned around to Raven with a condescending smile on her face. "And this is why you've always been such a bitch," she said bluntly and truthfully. "The likes of me?" she waited for Raven to say something but Raven kept her jaw clenched shut.

"First of all, don't assume to know anything about Slade, because trust me…as someone he manipulated and used, he's beyond more fucked up than you can ever imagine. Don't build him up to be someone undefeatable, he did technically die, it was **your father** who brought him back."

Raven looked at floor angrily. Terra was taking the conversation in a direction she didn't want to hear.

"You're not one to talk down to anyone Raven, if anything you're just as bad as me in keeping things secret and letting it get out of control; and don't think that the _likes of a demon_ can't be as easily fooled by Slade."

The words stung. Stung so hard Raven had to take a step back, there was an amount of truth in Terra's words that resonated deeply within her. Yes she didn't trust Terra, and yes she didn't believe her story, but then who was Raven to be trusted or believed? But most of all Terra was sending Raven a warning, just because he was technically captured didn't mean he was powerless.

Terra sighed loudly and looked out to the tower again with some pain setting in her eyes. "Look… you can believe me or you can think I'm lying. Either way I did save your life, and I'm trying to do what's best for myself… what's more beneficial at this point. Yeah I'm a little bit selfish and a bit of an opportunist, but I know how to survive Raven and like it or not I am on your side."

_For now, _Raven thought. She knew as well as Terra that so long as it benefitted her and her longevity that Terra was going to do whatever she had to do in order to keep forging ahead in this world.

It didn't make Raven like her any more or less, but it did make Raven respect her.

Some heroes could be so blinded by their loyalty to their teammates that even if it corrupted them they would stay by their side, how loyal would members of the Justice League be if Superman did turn to more extremist ways?

It scared her to think about, just as much as any other everyday citizen.

The problem now was not knowing, there was never any true knowing, at least with Terra the only thing known without a doubt was that she could come and go at any time…kind of like Slade.

She turned to leave, she could still hear the officer in the other room blaring into her phone, as Raven put her hand on the door knob she said one last thing to Terra, "Just don't hurt Beastboy, if you care about him great… if not, **do not** lead him on."

Terra just gave her a blank look with deep feeling in her eyes. "Never again, unlike you I actually do like him and consider him my best friend, if anyone I refuse to ever hurt him again."

"Right," Raven whispered as she left.

* * *

><p>"What would you like to talk about today?"<p>

Same question, she assumed that would be his go-to question each time she sat down with mute disinterest.

She chewed the bottom of her lip contemplating. She decided she liked Dr. Greg a little better, although she still hardly wanted to be here. It was tense trying to decide on a topic, he said she could talk about whatever she wanted, but she didn't really want to talk about anything.

There was plenty on her mind she could express, but Raven's style was to suppress. This new task at talking was barely practiced by her, so little in fact that her last session with Dr. Greg had left her voice sore. Robin had told her to treat it like a training exercise, the more she did it the less it would hurt.

"I don't know… I guess…" the only things that plagued her these days were Slade and Terra and she was not in the mood to talk about either.

Dr. Greg helped her out before she fell into crippling silence. "Perhaps we can talk about school, I know last time you expressed some excitement about returning."

Had she? God how much had she shared with him? Maybe it would have been easier dealing with a younger more inexperienced therapist.

"I am looking forward to that actually; it would be nice to get back a little normalcy in my life." She quickly regretted saying that when a look of surprise came across his face.

"Are you saying that the everyday struggle of being a hero isn't normal to you? You don't strike me as the type who tries to fit in, especially socially."

He had a profound way of stumping her. She searched her vocabulary to best explain her feelings. This session didn't feel any different from the first. "I'm **not** the type who tries to fit in and I don't consider myself social," she defended. "But I do like learning, I love reading and I like…I don't know…I like the routine of it all. I like going to a place where I know what to expect, and I know the kind of people I'm going to be around have similar interests as me."

He wrote something down on his pad and urged her on. "Does it feel more normal to you being involved in something more predictable and interactive with others?"

"I suppose by human standards yes…" she felt weird saying that. "I mean… Physically I'm human… but emotionally I'm stunted and socially it's all still very foreign to me. I'm from another dimension, a different culture, and being here makes me feel like an outsider."

"What about with the Titans?" Dr. Greg asked keeping his pencil still.

"The Titans welcomed me with open arms, I never felt more accepted by anyone more than them," she explained hurriedly.

He regarded her carefully. "However you're all united by your differences. It's not like they fully understand you even if they do accept you, and I'm sure even you still have a hard time understanding them fully."

Raven pursed her lips together and suddenly felt protective of her friends, "We try as much as we can… I guess that's why I pursued college in the first place. It is nice to be accepted by my friends, but I do need other people to talk to who understand me a little better. Sometimes I want to be part of society in a… different way."

"One where you're not scrutinized and judged, and constantly depended on." She couldn't tell if that was a statement or a question. She nodded anyway.

He nodded to her tentatively. "Do you have trouble relating to your teammates?"

Her answer to this question was quick. "Some days I don't understand the ridiculous things they do or the silly antics they involve themselves in just to forget about their problems. But then I realize that I'm not that different. I shut myself off a lot and yet I want to belong somewhere just as much as they do. Fundamentally we all want the same things: love, respect, a sense of purpose." A small smile graced her face in the pride she felt for the Titans. "I know they care about me and that their differences help me though some of my own problems."

He grasped his pen a little tighter. "Explain that more, what is it about each of you being so different that has helped you through some of the toughest times as a Titan?"

The words stuck in her throat as though there was no real way of explain, really there wasn't. Being a Titan, being a person that possessed great and dangerous power and being supported by fellow comrades with equal or greater abilities; it's amazing that the world puts any trust in you at all, it's amazing that they haven't accidently blown up the world by now and sent it all straight to hell.

Oh wait! Except for the fact that you do screw it up and you do destroy the world and they don't fully trust you and never will, but the world still needs **someone **to protect it. You can fly, control things with your mind, and teleport, might as well be you.

All these thoughts raced through Raven's head all at once as the good doctor waited patiently for her answer. Finally she simply answered. "They're my humanity…they're the one thing that hasn't made me quit from being a Titan."

He wrote something down before asking her another repeated question. "And how does that make you feel?"

She looked out the window as the word and emotion came easily to her mouth. "Safe."


	9. The First Night

**Chapter 8: The First Night**

She technically had three more sessions left with Dr. Greg, but he had been quick to deem her more than capable of monitoring Slade, despite the fact that she had yet to actually do that. He had told her in their last meeting that she never had to worry about falling apart because as long as she was with the Titans there was always a foundation for her to fall back on, people to pick her back up, and a stable core in her life that gave her strength and purpose she was lucky to have.

He sent a letter to the city council and they decided that she was no longer mandated to return to Dr. Greg's office for psychiatric help.

Somehow it made Raven feel very alone and abandoned. Did Dr. Greg not like her or think her worthy of his time, had her sharing with him bored him?

He had insisted that she could always return anytime she felt like it, but somehow having the option of going to see him didn't feel great. It was harder when you had to go to someone of your own free will, it made you feel weak, it made you feel vulnerable.

Yet, if she was going to go to someone in need of talking to, who better than a licensed professional?

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Out of everyone asking that question she was glad it was Cyborg. Anytime he asked a question it was with reserved calmness that never made her feel defensive. Unlike other people, when Cyborg asked a question it was out of pure selflessness to check in on those he cared about, there was nothing underneath or underhanded about it, and she knew whatever answer she gave him would be good enough for him.

"I will be," she answered securing her cloak firmly around her shoulders. "How about you?" she quickly deflected. "Excited to have Terra back in the tower?" she tried to keep the displeasure out of her voice and failed.

Cyborg only raised his hands cool and unflappable as usual. "Hey don't get me wrong, I had some reservations about the whole situation but you were near death when we found you down in the tunnels and Terra helped revive and bring you back to us, for that alone I will always be thankful to her."

Raven looked at him seeing true compassion within his eyes. She always felt bad when she scared her friends into believing she was dead or near death. She really had to cut that habit out of her daily routine.

"Why do you always have to be so damn nice," she asked with annoyance even though a smile crept on her face.

"Well _someone _has to be nice around here, especially when you're such a bag of sunshine yourself," he said ruffling her hair in a teasing way.

She swatted him away, glad to have someone to spar with in witty sarcasm.

She looked out the window and sighed, she had to leave, she was already running late, yet she didn't move. It was like everything in her body prevented her from taking that first step, they always say the first step was the hardest, what about the second, third and fourth step? How was she supposed to bring herself to do this every day?

The anxiety and resistance must've been on her face all too clearly as Cyborg arched an eyebrow and offered to drive her to her destination.

Normally she would've said no, normally she would've just left hurriedly in a defiant stance to prove she didn't need anyone; but after her few sessions with Adam Greg and the ease she had accomplished within herself in knowing how much she did rely on her friends, Raven took Cyborg up on his offer and buckled herself in, settled in the seat, and tried to soak up the few last minutes of freedom she had left.

She wondered what Slade's giant mansion was going to look like.

* * *

><p>A penthouse, a freaking penthouse!<p>

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't a cozy little penthouse.

With Slade she had envisioned a luxurious mansion with a dozen empty and impersonal rooms. She expected tall vaulted ceilings, heavy mahogany wood furniture, crystal chandeliers, old texts, marble floors and old gothic Victorian fixtures.

Instead it was modern, _very _modern.

The dining room to her right, the kitchen to her left, the living room straight ahead; all open and within view. She was guessing the bedroom was down the hallway behind the wall to which she didn't try to approach. She didn't want to see where Slade slept.

There was a huge balcony that overlooked the entire city, naturally Slade owned the entire upper floor of the building, and she could see Titans Tower in the distance.

_How fitting._

She continued to take everything in silently.

The furniture was big and comfy, the kitchen was stainless steel, the floors were wood, the walls were dark blue, the lamps square, there were shelves on every wall thick and filled with books of every kind. It was an everyday bachelor pad for an everyday man.

It wasn't half as pretentious as she expected; Expensive yes, but not overly grand.

She had been escorted by an officer parked outside of the building (his partner already asleep in the squad car) he didn't say one word to her as they approached his door and knocked. As soon as Slade answered the officer left.

Slade didn't say a word to her either; he looked her up and down once and turned his back leaving the door ajar.

The few seconds she had to look at him were the first she decided to actually look at his face.

**Hard** was the first word to come to mind. His face and eyes were made up of sharp corners and lines, his body was just as rigid and intimidating, all muscle and brawn. He was older, maybe in his late fifties, his hair white and thick around his head and in the fullness of his goatee. His one good eye was deep and dark blue, the eye patch over his other eye completely covered any traces of scarring or damage.

She suddenly had an urge to take off the eye patch and see underneath it. Why was she so obsessed with seeing more of his face?

As she took in his features and the interior of his home, Slade snapped her out of her trance by slamming the refrigerator door closed.

"Are you going to stand there all night or would you like to sit down?" he asked from the kitchen pouring a glass of water.

In truth she did just want to stand there all night, as warm and inviting as the place looked, she did not feel comfortable here.

Slade eyed her impatiently before giving up and leaving her alone, retreating into the unseen rooms down the hall.

Her stomach felt tight and queasy as she continued to linger in the entrance way. She finally took a step forward, surprised that it all didn't fade away like an illusion.

She walked over to the kitchen island and let her palms connect with the cold surface. _Well, at least there's something coated in marble._

She kept her hands flat and still on the counter trying to accept the reality of the situation, what other choice did she have? Might as well get use to it, might as well get some-what comfortable. Still she couldn't bring herself to sit on one of the wooden stools around the island. Sitting would only make her feel smaller if he chose to return.

She should be inspecting his home for anything suspicious, but that would mean looking through everything, going into the bedroom…maybe she would wait till later to do all the technical stuff.

She heard a shuffle, she glanced toward the hallway for the first time, now having a better view. She saw two doors, one for a bathroom, one for a closet, and a light coming from the left at the end of the hallway, and open doorway to a room she could not see behind another wall. Again she was glad she had no glimpse of the bedroom. The space was too personal, too close.

Raven had never felt more closed-in and more claustrophobic in her life.

She saw a shadow pass through the light.

She quickly adverted her eyes and waited in high anticipation for him to return. Instead she heard a soft click and realized the hallway had gone dark.

He had closed himself in his bedroom. Her stomach went lax and she eyed the hallway suspiciously as though he could be hiding in the shadows. Nope, he was defiantly in his room and had no intentions of leaving.

Now Raven felt even stranger, left alone in another room with his things and him in the next room, unable to see or interact with each other. She didn't know what to do.

"Feel free read any book you'd like," he called from the bedroom as the rest of the night descended into awkward silence.

* * *

><p>When she returned home the tower was full of a euphoria that danced in the air delicately. They hardly realized she had returned, all circling Terra in high excitement and reminiscent exuberance.<p>

Raven tried not to blanch, she tried to ignore the twisting in her stomach and slight drop in her heart and yet she couldn't help it. Her friends all pointing their energy and attention towards Terra, and her resenting and dreading her return and live-in situation; she didn't know who she hated more right now, Terra or Slade, it was hard to decide on a definitive answer.

"Raven!" Starfire had turned around and as soon as she saw her friend a feeling of relief and joy flooded her. As usual Starfire embraced Raven uninvited and squeezed as though at any moment she could disappear.

Raven wished she could return the physical affections Starfire so freely and openly expressed to her loved ones, but it still made her uncomfortable even after years of expecting the never ending hugs Starfire pushed on her.

Still she never felt right in telling her to stop, affection was a part of who Starfire was, just because Raven wasn't fully comfortable with her alien practices Raven wasn't going to make it a point of shutting her down and making her feel bad for loving her unconditionally.

As strong and as powerful of a warrior Starfire was, she was always forgiving, even to those who didn't deserve it.

"Come join us in celebrating the return of our friend!" Starfire said in delight jumping up and down, she began to tug Raven towards the rest of the party as Terra and Raven locked eyes.

Things seemed to slow down as Terra's eyes looked straight to hers and Terra didn't seem to know how to respond to her any more than Raven knew how to respond in return. As Starfire pulled at her, Raven quickly pulled back, Starfire quickly looked at Raven confused and a little hurt.

"I'm sorry Starfire, I'm actually really tired," she continued to look at Terra who finally broke eye contact and laughed at something Beastboy said.

"Are you alright?" asked Starfire carefully. "Was there anything that had gone badly tonight?" If Slade ever tried to hurt Raven, Starfire would tear him to pieces easily; Raven was half tempted to lie and say that he had tried to hurt her, but there was no need in getting another Titan into trouble.

In fact out of all the Titans Starfire was actually the one who had to practice restraint more than anyone else. Her strength was phenomenal, and although she was very merciful, she also didn't know her own strength or how to repress it.

Like Raven, Starfire came from a different world and different culture, it was hard for her to attune herself to earth customs, but unlike Raven, Starfire was more willing and more flexible; although she still had a tendency to get nearly suspended from time to time.

"I'm fine Starfire, I'm just tired and need some rest." She walked away from Starfire before she could smother her with anymore questions, and to prove she wasn't trying to avoid Terra or shut her out, she went up to her and quickly replied, "Welcome back," before retiring to the solitude of her room.

Terra watched as Raven left the room in a hurry. Knowing she had been alone with Slade and knowing she still hated her, Terra wanted to call Raven back, wanted to tell her stay with everyone…but she didn't.

* * *

><p>"So how was the first night?" Greg asked almost too cheerfully for Raven's taste.<p>

She looked around the room bored. _Why did I come here? _

She was no longer mandated, and yet she returned when she had promised herself she wouldn't.

Perhaps she had no other options, perhaps she didn't want to freak her teammates out and have them thinking she couldn't handle this. In truth she could, she just didn't want to.

"With Terra or with Slade?" she asked begrudgingly.

Her irritation piqued his attention and he calmly regarded her with sympathetic eyes. "Let's start with Terra. How does it feel to have an old teammate return?"

Raven resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the word teammate. Out of everything she considered Terra _teammate_ was not one of them.

As she scrunched her lips together in extreme aggravation she couldn't bring herself to say anything, her leg started twitching and Raven could feel some of her power spill out as two of Dr. Greg's degrees bounced off the wall and onto the floor.

He merely looked at the fallen degrees with a slight arch of the brow. She finally let out an exasperated sigh and said, "I'd rather not talk about Terra right now," she admitted gravely.

There was shift suddenly in their dynamic, one she recognized all too well. She was starting to shut down on him, starting to shut him out. Old habits die hard.

He seemed to sense it, but decided not to indulge her. "Ok then," he said passively. "What about Slade? How was your first night _alone_ with him?"

"It was uneventful," she answered simply. "We didn't talk, or fight, or even see each other the whole night

He eyed her curiously. "You sound disappointed by that."

Did she? What would make him believe that?

"No, it's just… it's unusual that Slade wouldn't want to create some kind of conflict, some kind of distraction. He's a man who enjoys mind-games…it amuses him when he can cause people distress."

Dr. Greg wrote some notes on the pad in his lap. "But he had no interest in interacting with you? Even though you have stated that he does have a curiosity in you."

She shrugged her shoulders and looked solemnly at the floor. "Maybe he doesn't care, maybe he's just dealing with the fact that I'm in his house against his wishes and he's choosing to ignore me because I'm an inconvenience to him."

He paused and asked, "How does that make you feel?"

Why did therapists always ask that? Did they not know any other question; did they not know any other line?

Again Raven just shrugged. "It doesn't make me feel anything."

* * *

><p>AN: And so it begins! Review please!


	10. How To Love

A/N: Ah! Sorry, like I said I tend to go off the radar sometimes, but my birthday was happening along with my dad's so I've been a bit preoccupied with partying, drinking and acting like the spoiled brat I am ha ha! So here are two chapters to make up for it, enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: How to Love<strong>

She had been given an assignment by Dr. Greg, whether it was to get a better understanding of her or whether it was to get her to open back up to him she couldn't be sure of.

It was obvious that she had put up a wall during their last session, she didn't know how much it would help, but as she had already learned…Dr. Greg was good at his job.

What he wanted from her was her true and honest feelings on each of her teammates, including Terra. He wanted details, reasons, it was going to be a weird task for her to explore. It was easy to know what you felt for people, the actual reasons behind it were more complex than what regular people experienced.

In her case it had been forbidden for her to experience such things, in many ways it was still new. Because much of her childhood had been all about repression, it made her very inadaptable at handling strong emotions, which was why she kept them so controlled. It wasn't that she was scared of feeling, she was scared of her anger and demonic side taking over and destroying everything she loved.

She lay in her bed pondering each Titan and what it was she truly thought of them.

Love…

Love was a very complex word and even more complex emotion. From what Raven had learned from her time on earth was how the word applied to her and how she applied it to the people around her.

As an empath discouraged from feeling emotion, love had been the most dizzying of emotions to be projected from people. She knew what love was, but didn't have a full understanding of it until she started to experience those feelings herself towards her adoptive family.

Robin was the first person she came to love, simply because he was the first to let her in. He brought together a bunch of misfits and gave them direction, discipline and structure. Having lost his own family he made them into his own; in fact everyone on the team had come to love and respect Robin first and foremost.

Raven loved Robin in a needy way, he was her leader, the center, the support beam, it was his faith in the good of his teammates and the good of people that propelled her to being a Titan, and for that she owed him everything.

There was no way to ever repay him. He didn't act heroic for reward, he acted on principle and belief, it was his job to act in a selfless role.

Robin's love in return was pure friendship, uncompromising and unconditional, except for Starfire… Starfire didn't receive that same kind of love from him, she received all that and more. The intensity of their love was so hot and burning it sometimes gave her a headache.

Starfire was the little sister Raven never deserved. Raven often looked at her with a twinge of jealousy as did many other females. Her beauty, charm, and freedom of expression was a gift you could only be born with. Raven loved Starfire for all her purity and innocence and was incessantly annoyed by it too. Starfire's courage and willingness to go into battle could only be matched by that of amazons, the team was beyond lucky to have someone so strong and resilient with them.

For all of the horrible things that happened to Starfire and for as much as she wore her heart on her sleeve, the one thing Raven admired her for was her ability to still be so kind and forgiving towards the world. Most people let the ugliness of this planet infect them and lower them, but Starfire could see past all the terrors and nightmares to beauty and hope.

Cyborg was someone who embodied each of them. He was intelligent like her, was a leader like Robin, kind like Starfire, and goofy like Beastboy. There was never a moment that anyone felt anything less than comfortable within his presence, he was the easiest to talk to and easiest to be around without any judgment or misunderstanding. Cyborg had an empathy that surpassed even hers, he had an observation and calmness to dealing with people that made him the dependable one of the group in all aspects.

He was realistic but wasn't put off from the possibility of working towards something better. He knew what he was capable of which is why the only time he felt vulnerable was when it came to his appearance. When people feared you because of looking like a machine it was hard for them to see you as a brilliant and capable person. With the Titans he was able to feel normal and they were able to remind him that he had no limits.

Beastboy was the hardest to love. He inflicted himself on people with his jokes and cheesy humor, which more often than not, people just didn't get. Beastboy was probably the most self-conscious and insecure of the group. He happened to be the youngest and was nearly the smallest until he finally grew just one inch taller than Raven. His high energy and optimism was forced in a way where Starfire's was natural, in a sense Beastboy tried too hard. He wanted to be noticed and taken seriously even though he didn't act that way.

But beneath his exuberant personality was a natural animal instinct instilled in him due to his changeling abilities. It made his anger, his prowess, reflexes, and senses heightened in a way that surpassed Robin's abilities. Beastboy trained his talents to a point of mastering them, but never fully embracing them.

Raven knew that Beatboy held back his abilities just as much as she held back hers. Had he ever wanted, he could be just as dangerous and unstoppable as any wild animal he embodied, it was keeping his human side present at all times that held him back from reaching his true potential, for that Raven respected him. To love him was to love his constant attempt to be accepted and to be part of something, something bigger than himself.

And then there was Terra and Slade…two people who she didn't love like she loved as a Titan or human; they were the few and rare who she loved as a demon.

She hated Terra and Slade, pure unbridled hate that fed and nurtured her demonic side. It wasn't the humane side of her that loved them… it was the demon side of her that benefitted and grew stronger from that hatred, and for that her rage and anger loved Terra and Slade.

With them her demonic side could breathe and be free given the right amount of force.

Terra and Slade were the best at bringing out the worst in her.

For Raven to finally trust someone who she instinctively knew to be dishonest had been hard. She had wanted to prove to herself that she was capable of giving people like Terra a chance, give them the benefit of the doubt, and at first she had been pleasantly surprised.

Then Terra had betrayed her and all of Raven's doubts and fears had come back to slap her in the face. It was them letting her in that had nearly killed them and doomed the whole city. It had been embarrassing, shameful and painful to know that someone could do that to you. That even the best of them could be fooled all because you wanted to be a good person and give a homeless runaway a home and give her a team and family that would do anything for her.

Terra had spit in their face and even for all her guilt and sacrificing her life to save theirs, Raven still couldn't forget how her demonic side had come out so violently, loving the thrill of a life and death fight with the earth controlling girl. Her demonic side had found someone to thrill and entice her, someone close to an equal in ways of cold pure hatred…that is until Slade came back for her.

By the time Slade had come back from the dead, Ravens ability of dealing with strong emotions had been getting more refined. She wasn't so nervous to smile, laugh or even cry. She was slowly learning how to push her emotional abilities to a point of safety, this included her anger.

One of the benefits of living with four other people was that they constantly pushed your limits. It was also the benefit of being on a team who could hold you back from really hurting a villain- who's main objective is to break and demoralize you. Raven had slipped a few times with the villains she came across such as Doctor Light and had always been grateful that Slade never tried to single her out.

Even in her demonic state she doubted her ability to defend herself against Slade without killing him. He was a psychopath who could manipulate, control and break you as if it were one of the easiest things in the world. They had nearly lost Robin that way, had lost Terra that way, and when he came for Raven it was lucky that he was already dead because Raven was another victim to his mind games.

Slade had met within her such a strong connection only because he had discovered all of her history and fate of her destiny and prophecy. He knew her in such a way that no one ever did, he knew her in the very ways she had never wanted anyone to know-especially her friends- and it had ruined her.

She had been broken to the point of going with him to her death. She had let Slade kill her and kill the world and had it not been for her magic keeping her friends safe they also would've died. Robin had reminded her more than once that if she had truly been hopeless she wouldn't have instilled some of her magic in them to help them survive the arrival of Trigon.

Raven never admitted out loud to him that she really only did that because she hoped they would survive a few more days and be together to accept their deaths in peace, she never actually expected them to succeed in destroying her father.

Either way her Rage persona had never had a more thrilling and exciting time than it had had with Slade. Oh yes her Rage had loved having Slade around to break Raven and let her free, and her Rage had especially loved letting Slade know how insignificant he really was in the grand scheme of things… a servant boy.

She expected she would meet her final death in her weak child form, maybe Slade would find her and finish the job himself for not receiving his end of the bargain. She would've let Slade do it too, she would've gladly let him kill her over and over, it only seemed fair. It seemed to be the only benefit the two of them had left, the only thing they had left for each other. Submission and dominance… that had been their game.

So now what was the game?

What was he to her now? What role did they take on in this new setting? Terra had already reclaimed her position, what kind of circumstances would they be in now both being prisoners to a very screwed up system.

* * *

><p>She sighed tapping her fingers impatiently on the counter top. Night two and no different from the first, Slade locked himself in his room, she stayed sitting at the kitchen island barely moving or doing her job. Five minutes left to go.<p>

The hour spent here had felt like five, she decided to make the last five minutes pass by as quickly as possible by doing a once around the living room.

There was a new text about Roman history on one of the bookshelves, an indent on the plush sofa, and his windows needed to be cleaned. She passed by the hallway without looking down its dark corridors and opened the front door loudly to let him know she was leaving.

No hidden wires, no suspicious objects, nothing new from yesterday besides some gathered dust, no reason for her to stay any longer.

As she started to walk out the door she heard Slade open the door from his bedroom and call out to her. "See you tomorrow," in that mocking menacing voice she remembered all too well on her birthday.

She slammed the door so hard it echoed off the walls.

* * *

><p>AN: A bit shorter than my other chapters, but this is mostly just filler for some better nights to come. I figure the first couple of nights would be met with very little to nothing going on between these two so I want to make sure everything is done in a believable and organized way. Next chapter will be well worth it!


	11. The Engaging Night

**Chapter 10: The Engaging Night**

It was the same as the first and second. No talking, no interaction, not even seeing each other except for when he came to the kitchen for something to eat and she sat their rigid as ever.

Raven heard noise every now and then. A cough, a step, then for a few minutes or more the sound of loud grunting and punching against something. At first she had been confused until she remembered where she had heard the sound before. Robin in the gym going at the punching bag, Slade must have his own equipment in his room, she was willing to bet his room was more of a gym than an actual bedroom, probably made the time go by faster by working out while she was here.

At least he was doing something productive, she sighed already bored, she should have brought a book to help her pass the time. She didn't dare touch one of his books or anything else for that matter, mostly out of spite since he had given her permission to make herself at home, had he forbid her from touching anything she very well might be grabbing at everything. She wished she could bring herself to do a proper inspection of the house, instead she merely looked with her eyes and no further.

She wouldn't mind if he made escape and disappeared for another few years. If that was what he was planning in the near future, she was hardly in a mood to stop him.

At least then she would be able to freely hunt him down, being his babysitter was demeaning, she would rather him punch and hit her than do this.

The silence in the kitchen was interrupted by a loud rumbling sound. She was hungry.

_Eat all his food!_

Mischievous Rage bubbled inside her. Days and days of uncomfortable tension was beginning to wane from her core, you could only be so angry and so on edge for so long before your mind and body had to go to a different place.

Annoying Slade and disrupting his home gave her a childish sense of joy in the ideas she could easily act on. She could ruin his things, she could throw trash around, she could spill some red wine on his expensive white carpet.

Raven sighed and shook her head. Though the thought was nice she wasn't about to stoop to the level that Beastboy certainly would, she valued her self-restraint more than angering Slade Wilson.

She stomach rumbled again, she ignored it, a few hours without food wasn't going to kill her.

Her hunger seemed to be in tune with Slade's as he suddenly appeared in the kitchen without a sound. Raven nearly gasped at the sight of him. _Like a damn cat,_ she thought turning her gaze away from him.

He didn't even glance at her as he went straight to the refrigerator pulling out different kinds of foods and turning on the stove.

She arched a brow as he continued to prepare a meal for himself while she sat there like a piece of furniture. This was what didn't make sense to her, he wanted her there, he was the one who felt curiosity and intrigue towards her and yet…he ignored her.

Why was he waiting for her to make the first move? It wasn't like Slade.

While she continued to sit there, Slade started to cook himself a melody of stir-fried vegetables mixed with spices and herbs. The pan he was using was large, she realized the amount of food he made was enough for four people, she didn't know why that surprised her, Slade was a large man by design, she was willing to bet his food bill was expensive and vast.

She started watching him more intently since he was so set on treating her as though she were invisible. He was patient and at ease with himself, he mixed and tossed the food with an experienced hand. It wasn't aggressive or rushed, it was precise and delicate.

They both knew she was studying him and yet neither of them said or did anything about it, it almost seemed expected of her and for once Raven didn't fight the unusual calmness that seemed to fall over the atmosphere of the kitchen.

The aroma from the food gave off a warm and lived-in feeling to the kitchen and before she could help herself, Raven started to feel relaxed until something happened…

They would've gone the whole night without truly reacting to each other had it not been for the loud roar Raven's deprived stomach set off by the smell of food.

She immediately blushed from embarrassment as Slade looked at her surprised from the loud uproar coming from her body.

She knew he was staring at her as she kept her eyes staring straight ahead, as hard as she tried not to think of hunger her stomach let out another protest as to further embarrass her for neglecting to eat. It sounded like an angry groan, and Raven felt the rest of her body flush as she felt amusement radiating off Slade. Damn her hunger!

Without asking her he grabbed a small plate and placed a small serving of his freshly cooked stir-fry in front of her.

Again she arched a brow, this time one of suspicion. Poisoning was hardly his style, but making food for the enemy was beyond unheard of for a man like him.

She looked down at the plate determined not eat it but her stomach seemed to be overtaking her will. It soon occurred to her that she hadn't had a real meal in three days. Her nerves had been wound so tight that her appetite had been nonexistent, now she had finally relaxed for a second, her appetite had returned with a ravenous longing for sustenance.

Without really thinking, she picked up the fork provided by Slade and took a few tedious bites. It was delicious, probably one the best things she had eaten in a while. Everyone in the Tower was a terrible cook for as hard as they tried. Starfires' alien experiments were hardly edible for most of them, Cyborg was forever obsessed with large portions of meat which were often smothered in gravy and thick BBQ sauces. Beastboy didn't technically cook and Robin…well Robin didn't completely suck at it but he was far from being a chef.

As Raven continued to eat she felt that familiar swell of curiosity coming from Slade. Rather than recoil she tried to focus on it. She had mentioned to how he was curious about her, he was always waiting for her reactions, her next move, why?

She wanted to figure it out only because it seemed far from important. She had nothing of interest for him, she had no new history that he didn't already know, he had nothing to gain from her in terms of being an accomplice or apprentice.

Was it their odd connection and time together that made him curious about her? Had she affected him in some way that he had affected her?

_People don't always have the clearest of motives or reasoning, sometimes we do things out of pure instinct or wanting. Just because you don't understand something or know why it's happening doesn't mean it's good or bad, it all depends on how you choose to handle it._

Dr. Greg's words ran through her head with a comforting reassurance. So long as she let herself relax and return to her passable calmness, there was no reason she couldn't maintain control and not get sucked into this game.

If it was even a game anymore…maybe Slade was just trying to get a better understanding and tolerance of this as well. Maybe that was why he chose her, because she was the most intuitive of the Titans. Perhaps she was the most equipped to deal with this task.

He sat across from her at the island and they both ate their food not looking or speaking to each other. She had to repress a laugh, this was just too weird.

* * *

><p>The first words to come out of his mouth were hardly what she expected to hear.<p>

"Care for dessert?"

No doom or warning. He seemed to be testing his limits with how much further he could stuff food down her throat.

He opened the refrigerator and scurried around it noisily. She sat there passively with her arms crossed and continued to watch him. He had placed a huge slab of chocolate cake in front of her along with a fork.

She kept her arms crossed and barely looked at the slice of cake. "I don't do sweet," she wasn't lying or trying to be defiant. Raven's sweet tooth had never fully grown in, she didn't eat for pleasure unlike Cyborg and Beastboy, she ate more out necessity, her food preference was plain and simple.

Slade didn't seem to hear her as he sat at the opposite side of the island and ate at his own slice.

Raven sighed, not caring for the obvious act of her disapproval of sweets being ignored and picked up her fork to poke and stab at the gooey chocolate pastry.

Time seemed to pass by just fine before Raven could stop the words escaping her mouth. "Why did you ask for me Slade?"

His mouth twitched slightly as he met her eyes. "I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to ask that, a lot sooner than I would've guessed."

He was avoiding the question. She pressed on.

"I'm serious, you don't seem to want to kill me anymore, so what is it? Expect us to get close by forcing me to stay in your home?" she accused seriously. The thought had not escaped her. Stockholm syndrome was a very real thing. If he could befriend her perhaps she would be the one to help him escape without him having to get his own hands dirty. That would be more Slade's style.

"You're implying that we're not already close my dear."

She nearly dropped her fork at his statement. Was that what he really thought? Was that his twisted version of being close to someone? For someone who didn't have regular friends or family the possibility wasn't too far off, but his implication made it seem as though she felt the same.

"You have a lot to learn about what it means to be close to someone," Raven lectured harshly at him, no longer caring for an answer to her question. "Don't assume for one minute that you actually_ know_ me. My destiny no longer defines me and it never did, so you have nothing on me but a dead history."

Slade didn't react to her speech in any particular way. He merely glanced at her plate and smirked. "Well at least I knew you'd enjoy _something _sweet."

Raven's eyes bolted down to her now empty plate.

"You practically licked the plate clean."

She threw the fork across the kitchen and left the room.

* * *

><p>"He actually engaged with you," Dr. Greg was looking at her with more focus than usual today, as though he were trying to pull something out of Raven, what it was she didn't know.<p>

"He talked _at_ me, he wasn't trying to socialize or get to know me better, he just wanted a reaction since I was so obviously uncomfortable around him." Raven had been in a bad mood ever since last night. She had to take up an extra hour of meditation just to quell her anger down to a mere sizzle as opposed to a boil over.

She had let her guard down and Slade had gotten to her, she was never eating cake again.

He frowned at her slightly, "But if you knew this was his motive why did you let him get away with it?"

It was her turn to frown back. "Are you suggesting I should've beat him up in order to get even?"

He did something that surprised her, he laughed at her, actually laughed as though she had told a joke. "Raven, you and I both know better, you are someone who prides herself on self- control and someone who deflects feelings of doubt or insecurity by using your wit and intelligence. If you knew Slade was trying to bait you, then why didn't you rise above the challenge as opposed to falling for it?"

Her mouth hung open slightly at Dr. Greg's words, what he was saying was the truth. Why had she not been herself, why hadn't she acted with dignity, why had she let Slade get to her? Was she that scared she couldn't control herself around him that she had turned into someone who now overreacted over something as trivial as cake.

"You let him cook for you, you allowed yourself to eat, you gave yourself a moment of peace and you ultimately let your own worries self-sabotage the whole evening," Dr Greg explained with great emphasis. "Why?"

Raven sighed and shut her eyes once. "Because he's my enemy, it isn't right…I shouldn't be feeling like it's ok to relax around him."

Dr. Greg folded his fingers together and regarded her with a look of wisdom. Their session was near its end and he wanted to make sure she didn't leave feeling as though her night with Slade had been a disaster. "It's not about being comfortable or relaxed around an enemy. It's not even about whether it's wrong or right to engage with him, its' about making sure he's adhering to his punishment and that you are still a Titan merely serving and aiding the city by making sure he is not plotting something dangerous."

Raven remained quiet and tried to drench in his words.

"It's not strange for you to know him better, it's not unusual for you to feel differently about him. It won't even be a shock to me when you discover his more human side and see redeeming qualities in a man you believe to be so evil, that's not the case here Raven."

Raven suddenly felt as though she were in the presence of a leader. It was shame Dr. Greg had no powers and was near retirement, he could do great things for superheroes and their way of seeing things.

"The main objective here is to monitor his actions and protect the city. Have you been doing that so far?"

Not to the best of her ability. But so far, no escape attempts, not brawls, and no mysterious explosions or attacks on the city. "Yes," she answered.

Dr. Greg shrugged his shoulders and looked at her with calm unworried eyes. "Then see what happens in these exchanges between the two of you. See where it goes."

This was the first time Raven seriously doubted his advice. He didn't know the first thing about Slade, but then again she didn't really either. She knew his evil qualities; perhaps knowing those supposed good qualities Dr. Greg seemed to believe he held could be used to her advantage.

_What kind of advantage? _Rage piqued inside her mind devilishly.

She felt an unfamiliar tightness in her chest…this wasn't going to end well.

* * *

><p>AN: Review!


	12. The Comfortable Night

**Chapter 11: The Comfortable Night**

* * *

><p>Interesting.<p>

That was the only word he could think of to describe last night with the dark brooding Titan. She wore her uniform each time she came and sat like a statue in his kitchen, never even bothering to do her daily inspection. Perhaps he should report her, maybe that would snap her out of her comatose state.

It wasn't like him to cook for someone else. Normally he would've let her sit there to starve and sulk. However it had been a while since Slade had had any sort of company in his home, he thought with Raven the one hour nights would flow by with an invasion of privacy. He thought she would tear his house to pieces, thought she would insult him, thought she would walk around here proudly that he was finally a prisoner in some sense.

However the moment he saw her enter his house he knew it was going to be the very opposite of everything he expected. He kept forgetting she wasn't a teenager anymore, he kept forgetting she didn't forgive or forget what he had done to her, and he also forgot how uncomfortable she was around people, let alone one of her greatest enemies.

Needless to say things had been boring, and boredom was something he was not accustomed to. He had grown tired of waiting for her to do something, thus forcing him to do something very out of character for him.

He guessed what had happened was of mild interest, she actually ate his food, actual spoke back to him, and even more surprising threw a hissy fit by throwing silverware across his kitchen.

Another thing he forgot…how easy it was to get her pissed off given the right push. He had been hoping for more of a challenge but perhaps making Raven lose her cool again wouldn't be so difficult. If she attacked him he could easily escape and in the end it would be her doing, her fault, and her downfall.

However that all still remained to be seen, he still had a lot of work to do, a lot to prepare for. He knew sooner or later Raven would get comfortable enough to properly inspect his house and if he wasn't patient he wouldn't be able to make his clean start once his sentence was over. In the end it wouldn't really matter, he'd be back in the criminal world in no time and back to terrorizing superheroes and destroying the Titans.

He still wouldn't be able to do anything for months, he needed to be patient and he needed to use Raven for whatever he could at this point…but then that wasn't why he had requested her.

He couldn't care less which of the Titans monitored him, but only he knew why Raven was the one he needed. Maybe one day she'd find out too, given that Terra didn't tell her first.

* * *

><p>Beastboy had an extra spring in his step. He whistled and hummed, made more jokes than usual, and had a smile plastered on his face day and night.<p>

Raven hadn't realized until Terra's reappearance how much Beastboy had actually matured over the last four years. She hadn't felt this kind of jovial immaturity in him for what seemed like forever, now that it was back in full swing Raven found her old annoyance in his over-exuberance just as strong.

"God! It's such a beautiful day!"

Over the years Beastboy had learned to talk in a more hushed tone when she was reading in the living room, now he entered twice as loud as ever with Terra smiling contently behind him.

_Yeah, I bet you're enjoying all his attention. _Raven thought vehemently.

While Raven had never been overly-found of Beastboy's energy being directed at her, she disliked being completely forgotten even more.

Terra distracted him to the point of being inconsiderate with everyone around him, no one noticed since they were also mildly sidetracked by the euphoria of having her back. Raven noticed though, she noticed to the point of feeling uncomfortable in her own home. It had only taken four days for Terra to make her feel unwelcomed.

Beastboy had accidently sat on one of her favorite books she left lying on the sofa while he was telling Terra some lame joke; by the time he noticed he had sat on it the spine had already been bent. Beastboy broke her favorite tea mug by knocking it off the table while animatedly re-telling a story of one of their battles. All of it would have been well and good had it not been for Beastboy bumping her hard in the shoulder while walking with Terra down the hall. He barely even glanced at her before muttering out a quick "sorry," and returning his gaze back to Terra.

_Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…_

Raven breathed in and out as slowly as she could force herself to. It wasn't Terra's fault, not really, and yet she was mad at her all the same. Not once had Terra approached her and asked her how her nights with Slade had been. Not that she expected her to, but somehow Raven thought maybe she would.

_What had her nights with Slade been like? _

She shuddered to think of their two evil and twisted minds conspiring together to destroy her and her friends. Did they laugh over a fine cooked meal prepared by Slade? Did they sit in his penthouse overlooking the waters directly pointed at Titans Tower? What kind of things did she tell Slade about her? What impression did she give Slade about Raven before her father had?

_Why am I asking myself these stupid questions? _

Her intelligence told her it was the mystery of the unknown. Working in the crime world and dealing with those of a twisted, dark, or extreme mindset took a great deal of patience and understanding. You had to force yourself to know your opponent without being corrupted by them.

When you didn't know or understand something about the enemy it only put you more at risk. She wanted the answers to her questions to better protect herself, to better manage the feelings she had towards Slade and Terra, but would she ever get the truth?

She could just try and ask them outright. Then again when she had tried to ask Slade why he had chosen her to monitor him, he had completely projected her question and caused her to have a childish outburst.

Raven sighed and let her feet reconnect with the floor, she had only been meditating for an hour after giving up on reading, anything she used to try and distract herself wasn't working.

For some reason Raven felt a little shaky, her breathing seemed to be getting tighter every so often, now as she fully stood in front of the windows that looked out to the city she felt her skin go slick with sweat. A feeling of dread came over her knowing that Slade could look out his window and see her home as she was looking out towards his.

"Raven," Robin's voice snapped her out of her unusualness. She blinked a few times and looked at him blankly.

"You ok? You seemed to be in another world for a second," he approached her slowly. He was always careful with her, like she was brittle and made of glass. He treated her with such ease, a luxury none of his other teammates received.

"I'm fine," she replied flatly. "Just have a lot on my mind."

His brow and jaw hardened as he nodded at her. He rubbed his neck and sighed coming to stand next to her. "I'm sorry I couldn't convince the city council to let **me** watch Slade instead of you."

Always the noble leader, always taking the blame for things that weren't even his fault.

She smiled sadly at him and shrugged her shoulder. "It's only fair Robin, I did do my share of damage and if Slade wants me…well I guess Slade always gets what he wants."

Even though she had said it sarcastically Robin still looked at her wide eyed and said, "Don't say that."

They had already lost her to Slade once, Robin would be damned if he let that happen a second time. She doubted he was going to stop harassing the city council, the mayor, she was willing to bet he was working his way up to talking to the president.

"We just need to give it time," he said more desperately than ever. "We have to be persistent, let them know how serious we are about this, how unfair it really is considering all the good we've done for this city."

Raven couldn't help but roll her eyes and let out an exasperated breath. "Just let it go Robin. Within a year this whole thing will be over and things will go back to normal. Slade will be free to return to crime, we'll be chasing him down, he'll be mocking us from a distance. Only this time we'll have Terra on our side."

_Hopefully._

"But he tried to kill you Raven," Robin said in a hushed voice. "It still bothers me…what was the purpose."

"It doesn't matter Robin," Raven replied stoically. She didn't want to analyze _that _question anymore. "Maybe he got cocky and thought he could get away with it, maybe he was being reckless, maybe he was just bored."

She looked out to the horizon as the sun started to set and set the sky aglow with reds, purples, orange and pink. The colors reminded her of hellfire.

"I just want to finish out this year. I don't care if that means being stuck with Slade for an hour every day. I can handle it." The certainty in her voice seemed to waver as Robin looked at her skeptically.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You're with him for a long time, and I just to make sure…" He trailed off and Raven waited patiently for him to continue. "I just want to make sure he's not trying to hurt you, or brainwashing you into any lies."

"I know how Slade works Robin," and it was true, she did know how Slade worked. To assure Robin even further, she did something she rarely ever did to make sure he believed her, she put her hand on top of his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Everything is fine."

When she looked back out the window the sky had turned black, the color of doom, signaling her time to leave Titans Tower and back to Slade again.

* * *

><p>She figured as long as she was supposed to be here, and as long as Slade decided not disrupt her, she might as well use the time to study and do her homework.<p>

Her first day back at school had been different. Everyone looked at her with a distrusting eye, normally she would resent it, but she felt she had well earned it. At least her academic performance was still up to par.

Book work and other such assignments were not difficult for Raven, she maintained perfect grades ever since her first day of college, she didn't understand why regular students couldn't do it when it was all so simple. Then again they were all rather busy with their social and ever changing love lives.

She didn't understand how people could go from one partner to the next so fluidly, the whole process made her dizzy and gave her a headache just thinking about it. If they put all that energy toward their college career then they wouldn't be turning to her all the time for help on assignments and studying.

However Raven quickly realized how unable she was able to concentrate being in _his_ home. The personal items told her more and more each time she dared take a glimpse. For instance the books, naturally there were books on law, crime, philosophy, but who knew Slade actually read fiction and poetry.

Who knew he listened to jazz and classical music, never mind the fact that most of them were vinyl's. Hell who knew Slade could actually cook being so odd and reclusive, she could barely imagine him washing a dish. But everyone had their double-life, she just wasn't use to seeing him any other way than his mask.

The mask…in all honesty that was one thing she wished the police hadn't taken away. She didn't want to know his face, she didn't expect someone so much older, so much more dignified, someone so human. It unnerved her to no end that she couldn't even go to sleep at night without dreaming of his new face.

She could sense it disturbed him too, left him feeling naked in a sense; he didn't want her seeing his face anymore than she did.

Then why did she try removing his mask that day when he had tried killing her?

She sighed feeling flustered and put down her pencil giving up on her report, she would wait till she got back to the tower.

"Didn't realize the Titans had to fill out paper work," a voice suddenly bellowed.

Raven jumped in her seat so hard that the stool inched forward making a sharp sound against the floor. Slade smirked at her amused as he moved into the kitchen and went for the fridge. He was so close that she went tense and rigid immediately.

He took a bottle of water and apple out before shutting the fridge door, he looked at her once and started to walk back towards his room. Before she could stop herself she blurted out, "It's homework."

Why did she do that? Openly correct him when it shouldn't even matter.

He turned around and tossed the apple in the air and catching it, he seemed more amused now that she was actually talking to him, or rather talking back at him. "What kind of homework? The kind where every question has a multiple choice answer?"

She wanted to say _fuck you, _but acting so juvenile would only confirm his remarks about her intelligence and maturity. Instead she replied. "An English report, things only people who read would understand."

Slade raised his eyebrow and looked towards his many shelves of books as though to point out his vast intake of reading.

Raven looked at the shelves too and quickly remarked, "Sorry Slade, using books for decoration doesn't count."

He scoffed and continued to toss his apple up and down, unsure of what to make of her sudden feistiness. "The first three nights you're mute, and the fourth night you're suddenly a smart-ass."

Raven picked up her pencil again and turned her eyes to her paper determined to get the last word in. "Certainly smarter than you." She didn't look back up to see his reaction, she didn't need too. She knew she left him stumped by her sudden change in attitude and liked it.

Slade stood there for a time regarding her. He had plenty he wanted to say to her, but for whatever reason he chose to simply return to his room. Whatever game she was getting at he didn't want to get involved. It was still his home and she was still just a guest, he didn't want her getting too comfortable, although she seemed to be doing it quickly.

* * *

><p>She flew back to Titans Tower not feeling so lousy as she had every night for the past week. Getting the last word shouldn't make her feel so victorious but damn…it just felt too good.<p> 


	13. Attraction

**Chapter 12: Attraction**

There was something and terrifying about those who could convert, control or manipulate the elements. In Terra's case, being able to move earth was something she had a full and capable mastery of. Her time with Slade had not been wasted in terms of her skills.

Terra had such control that predicting her next move had become near impossible. Normally when the ground is disturbed it splinters in a noisy and obvious way, specks of dirt may fall from the base, pebbles would scatter, and the visibility of large minerals flying near your head would be easy to catch in time.

However each time Terra moved more and more rock and dirt, the more Raven realized just how powerful she had become. She was able to keep the mineral of the ground perfectly intact to not set off any noise obvious to Beastboy, she was able to send smaller pieces of rock flying with more dangerous speed too fast for Robin to detect, and worse yet Terra was able to lift larger pieces that were hard for even Starfire and Cyborg to handle.

As their training session came to an end Raven could feel her heart beat fluttering faster than she was use to.

_Am I getting sick?_ She wondered as she checked her pulse.

No seemed to notice as they were all catching their breaths and wiping sweat from their foreheads. Raven looked carefully at each teammate surveying the kind of bumps and bruises she may need to patch up.

When her eyes finally got to Terra her heart rate seemed to speed up a little faster. _Not a scratch on her._

"Damn I forgot how tough you were Terra," Beastboy said in adoration.

Raven rolled her eyes as she wiped more dust and grime off her uniform. "She was never tough, she just has better timing and restraint."

Terra smiled at her wiping some imaginary sweat from her brow. "Thanks Raven."

Raven hid a sneer beneath her cowl, she hadn't meant it as a compliment but let her have it anyway. Azar knew they hadn't had a challenging training session in a while, becoming too familiar and in tuned with each other's abilities. Terra's new surprises had kept them on their toes today, and even Raven could appreciate a good workout every now and then.

"Let's celebrate with a good old fashion barbeque!" shouted Cyborg salivating at the thought.

"What exactly are we celebrating?" asked Raven unenthusiastically.

Cyborg looked at her surprised, as though a celebration with his favorite food needed a reason. "How about a good day…or a good training session…or…." Cyborg let his sentence hang in the air as he rushed off to grab the sustenance needed to refuel his appetite.

"Hey wait up!" yelled Beastboy sprinting after him. "I know you're not going to forget my tofu burgers! And if you think we're not making a salad then you're out of your mind!"

Robin shook his head excusing himself for a shower. Starfire stuck with Terra and Raven chattering about what dish she should make for the barbeque and Terra making a few suggestions. Raven stayed quiet the whole time as they entered the tower each of them removing shoes and a few accessories.

One of the things Raven had been most thankful for in updates to the tower was the decision to finally install their own personal bathrooms. Even though they were rather small in space, Raven was glad she didn't have to wait her turn to shower; in the past she was usually the last one getting use of the bathroom, meaning she'd stink from having to sit in her own sweat and grime thus making her have to wash extra hard.

Raven smiled at the privacy and convenience of being able to take her time and get cleaner sooner, unstrapping her cloak and draping it over her arm she called out to Starfire, "I'm going to go shower first, Starfire do you think you could make a pitcher of **unsweeted** tea?"

Days as hot as this one, Raven had no problem drinking iced tea, so long as Starfire stopped ruining the drink by adding ungodly amounts of sugar to each batch.

Starfire grimaced a little over the thought of such a bitter beverage but nodded to Raven in acceptance, already planning to make a backup drink more suited to the aliens sweet tooth. "Certainly Raven, perhaps something for dessert? I know you don't partake in the wonderful deliciousness of treats, but if you have any suggestions I could-''

"Chocolate cake."

Both Terra and Starfire looked at Raven curiously, Starfire with more delight, while Terra with a bit more scrutiny.

"Really?!" Starfire squealed clapping her hands together at the thought of Raven joining in on something that she usually didn't.

Raven looked away in embarrassment, yes not liking dessert made her even more of an outcast, and it was always made more apparent when she was open to activities out of the norm for her. "Yes Strafire, make a stupid chocolate cake and I will eat some of it with you."

Again Starfire squeaked with delight as she rushed into the kitchen pulling out various items for the party. Raven realized Terra was still watching her. Raven decided to leave the room as soon as possible rather than Terra questioning her with the significance of chocolate cake.

_You're over-thinking it, _Raven thought to herself foolishly. It wasn't like Terra knew what was happening between her and Slade. _You don't know that, she was with him before you, she's smarter than she seems._

And more dangerous; Raven sighed tiredly, wondering if she'd ever get over speculating how loyal Terra would stay to the Titans.

Raven turned on the tap as hot as it would go and stood under the stream of water closing her eyes in deep thought. God she hated how last night had gone.

* * *

><p>They walked around each other as though in high anticipation. She didn't know if that was because she had finally mustered the courage to do a full inspection and that she was touching his stuff, or that he was hiding something.<p>

For all of her trying, for all of her desperation that Slade was hiding something that she could use to put him away for good, she only found more personal things that gave her a better picture of the man she was suppose to be monitoring.

Dozens of TIME magazines, articles with highlighted paragraphs, notebooks with notes on various topics of research; a few random notes about chores, grocery items and reminders.

The guest bathroom was nothing spectacular, the basic amenities of toilet paper, towels, soap. The only thing that caught her eye was the large bathtub big enough for two. Raven realized that the tower didn't have tubs, they each had standing showers. While she had never experienced it, the thought of soaking in hot quiet water seemed terribly soothing.

The large reveal had been Slade's bedroom which Raven realized was actually two rooms converted into one. At one point there had been a wall to separate what contained Slade's office and small but efficient gym equipment.

She hadn't expected the area to be so large, now feeling foolish for not inspecting it sooner, it was the exact size of the living room and kitchen. At the far end of the right was a king sized bed and walk in closet filled with expensive luxurious clothes. Seeing such normal clothing made her ache for her own regular attire. She was still arriving to Slade's home in her uniform.

His office area had a large European style desk made of oak. The drawers and shelves behind it were emptied out by the police, there wasn't even a radio lying around. Raven figured he must've kept busy with reading, but even she had to admit that she tired of being a shut-in. This punishment must be driving him crazy, hence the exercise equipment to stimulate his body.

He had a punching bag, a pull-up bar, a few free weights that didn't go below 50 pounds and an advanced looking treadmill.

_No wonder he still looks good for his age. _

Raven paused to grimace at herself. _Where the hell did that come from? _Since when had she decided that Slade looked good at all?

_Oh come on Raven it's not like you're blind, it's not his fault he has such a trim body._ Raven nearly gasped out loud. That was defiantly not her but rather her Lustful emotional self piquing up in full blown expressiveness.

She wanted to scream and curse at her more sexualized and physically charged emotion for making a connection towards someone she hated so much.

_It's a hormonal response, completely physical, it doesn't mean anything, _her intellect reasoned. Raven felt disappointment to that truth knowing this wasn't the first time her attractions had pointed in the wrong direction, hadn't she learned from her experience with Malchior?

"What?" Slade snapped harshly behind her.

She hadn't realized that she had been scrutinizing herself so harshly that it may appear that she was viewing his belonging in a suspicious manner.

"Nothing", she snapped back. "Everything looks fine…for now."

As she walked back to the kitchen she quickly realized that Slade was following her and standing rather close behind her as she stood at the counter grabbing her backpack. She squeezed it tight to herself not wanting to turn directly around to his face, to his energy, to his body which was becoming more and more obvious to her lustful side.

_Why him? Why him? _

_You know why. _Her Intelligence berated to her. She would know if she took the time look at her emotions better, the time to look at the reasoning, to sit her affectionate and lust driven self down to explain. But she wouldn't, she didn't want to know the answer even though it lay right there, she wanted to keep denying the possibility because the truth was just too awful.

Raven finally set her backpack down on the island unpacking her homework and keeping her eyes down the whole time. Slade was watching her intently and she knew she couldn't give anything away at this moment for fear of her fully peaked emotion wanting to burst through. She pushed it back further not allowing herself to feel at all, but she could still feel Slade, and Slade had a nagging suspicion emanating off him.

He leaned against the island observing her as he finally asked, "If everything looks fine then why did you seem so upset?"

Raven kept her face blank looking through her notes without actually reading them. "I wasn't upset over anything, I just wanted to get that over with."

He glared at her a moment before swinging around towards the stove and making yet another meal. This time it was grilled chicken with roasted peppers, asparagus and red potatoes. The whole time Slade cooked he didn't say another word to her, nor her to him.

He placed a plate in front of her and before he left with his own plate into the confines of his room again, he placed a second plate in front of her with a slice of chocolate cake. Raven stared at the plate for what seemed liked hours. She was alone in the kitchen with Slade's food and yet Slade had left her alone this time, she didn't know why this made her upset, but it did.

She ate the chicken and potatoes but left the cake untouched this time, it had still been sitting on the island when she left.

* * *

><p>"What is it that makes you so nervous around this particular man?"<p>

That's how she had described the night to Dr. Greg. Nervous…nervous was the best word she could describe her unusual feelings as of late. The rapid heartbeats, the sense of doom…

She shrugged not wanting to answer that question. It seemed more often than not that he asked her questions she didn't want to answer, so how was this suppose to help her?

"Just think about it for a second," he said patiently. He repeated his question, "What makes you so nervous around Slade?"

She looked anywhere but at his face. He was too observant and too present, she didn't want him to tell when she was lying.

"I don't know really, I guess it's just his presence…or something." She was stammering, since when did she stammer?

"So he's intimidating?" he asked, expecting her to explain.

She gave a sarcastic smirk and snorted. "Well yeah any man with a missing eye and death defying martial art skills would be intimidating to anyone." She shook her head annoyed with him and yet he continued to sit there, patient.

Raven continued to talk, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence he kept trying to trap her in. "But it's not like I've never met an enemy before that didn't intimidate me on some level. I mean you never know in this business who you're going to face next; someone stronger, and faster, and more dangerous than the last."

He nodded gently at her. "So what makes Slade so unique, what sets him apart from the rest?"

She blew out a puff of air and looked up at the ceiling. "Plenty…" She had to shake her head slightly at all the many, many thing she could list about Slade. "He's calculating and smart, unlike some of the dumb and mindless criminals I've encountered."

He nodded as she continued to build a better and clearer picture of him. "He's relentless and clear in what it is he wants and what it is he wants out of people. He's honest and cold and doesn't care how far he's crossed the line with others."

"Has he crossed lines with you?" he suddenly asked.

Raven blinked once not knowing how to answer that. She answered with avoidance. "You can't be around a man like that and not be affected in some way, he knows what he's doing, he knows when he's gotten to you."

"And has he gotten to you?" he asked pointedly.

Her eyes were dodgy as she answered as best she could, "Well he was the one who knew before anyone else that I would destroy the world. He was the one who delivered me to my death and rebirth. In some messed up way he's been tied to my life and I can't seem to escape it."

"So you're worried he will become even closer to you?" he dug deeper. Raven hated him.

"I'm worried that I'll forget what he really is as I start…" _Careful_, she thought to herself. "As I start to be around him more and more, it starts getting comfortable and I start to see another side of him."

It looked as though a thought suddenly struck his mind. "Does this other side of him appeal to you at all?"

Her words got caught in her mouth and this time she really couldn't answer him.

"Are you attracted to him in any way?"

"No," she replied quickly and defiantly. "No I am not."

* * *

><p>AN: Hope I'm not rushing this story, but trust me nothing truly crazy will happen too soon. I'm open to any suggestions on how you guys want this go or if you want more of certain characters. Please review!


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